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SAN  DIEGO 


STRANGE    SIBERIA 

ALONG  THE 
TRANS-SIBERIAN  RAILWAY 


A    JOURNEY    FROM    THE    GREAT 
WALL  OF  CHINA  TO  THE  SKY- 
SCRAPERS OF  MANHATTAN 

BY 

MARCUS  LORENZO  TAFT 


NEW    YORK:     EATON    &    MAINS 
CINCINNATI  :  JENNINGS  &  GRAHAM 


Copyright,  1911   by 
EATON  &  MAINS 


TO 

MARY  AND  MARION, 

MY 

FELLOW  -TRAVELERS. 

WITHOUT    WHOM   THESE 

JOURNEYINGS  WOULD   HAVE  LOST 

THEIR  CHARM. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

FOREWORD 9 

Sketches  of  Travel — Time  and  Route 
— Our  Mascot — Courtesy — Occident 
and  Orient — Coincidences — Yankee 
Notion. 

I.  To  Go  OR  NOT  TO  Go 19 

II.  THE  RUSSIAN  LANGUAGE 25 

III.  THE  START 30 

IV.  THE  GREAT  WALL 34 

The  Great  Wall  of  China— Legend. 

V.  MUKDEN 38 

Imperial  Railways  of  North  China — 
Port  Arthur — The  Asiatic  Armaged- 
don— Policy  of  Russians  and  Japanese 
— Hunghutze  Hobgoblin. 

VI.  HARBIN 51 

Geography  from  a  Chinese  Standpoint 
— Migration — Hotel — Money  Matters 
— Pristan — Chinatown. 

VII.  ACROSS  MANCHURIA 62 

Russia's  Real  Navy — The  Trans-Sibe- 
rian Railway — Express  Trains — Rus- 
sian Paternalism. 

VIII.  KING- AN  AND  GENGHIS  KHAN 72 

Alpine  Regions — Genghis  Khan — Mongol 
Imprints — Chinovnik. 

IX.  SIBERIA 83 

Prairie  and  Forest  Fires — White  Birch 
—  Trans-Baikal  Scenery  —  Customs 
Examinat  ions — Chita — Albazin . 

X.  IRKUTSK 100 

Safety  —  Hotel  Metropole  —  Lutheran 
Church — Bolsche  Kaya — Museum — 
Russian  Holidays — National  Sesames 
— Shopping — Street  Strolls— Church 
Music  —  Churches  —  Schools  —  Ex- 
cursion to  Monastery — Marriage  Hin- 
drances— Friendships  of  Russians  and 
Americans — Unique  Honor  to  the 
Bible. 

5 


6  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XI.  THE  JEWS  IN  RUSSIA 140 

National  Contrasts— Sowing    Dragon's 

Teeth — Reaping. 
XII.  JERMAK,  IMMIGRATION  AND  EXILES 145 

Jermak  —  Vereshchagin  —  Immigration 
— Exiles — Opportunity  of  the  Painter 
—  Religious  Liberty  —  Raskolinks  — 
Russian  and  American  Pioneers  Com- 
pared. 

XIII.  TOMSK 174 

Yenesei  River  —  Taiga  —  Tomsk  — 
Women  with  Careers  —  The  Black 
Hundred  —  University  of  Tomsk  — 
Market  Place — Prison — City  Park — 
Dentists — Yellow  Literature— j-Legend 
and  History — Repulsive  Printing — 
Cathedral  Service. 

XIV.  ACROSS  THE  STEPPES  . 211 

Onward  from  Tomsk  —  Bridges  and 
Rivers  —  Omsk  —  Petropaulovsk  — 
Kourgan — Butter  Business — Russian 
Eggs. 

XV.  OVER  THE  URALS 222 

Chelyabinsk  —  Scenery  —  Minerals  — 
Demidoff,  the  Miner — Souvenirs. 

XVI.  THE  VOLGA 228 

Samara — Division  of  Night  and  Day — 
Scythians — River  Travel  —  Kazan — 
Tolstoy — On  Shore  and  Stream. 

XVII.  THROUGH  RUSSIA 241 

Ride  to  Moscow — Moscow — Redeemer's 
Gate  —  French  Revolution  —  What's 
in  a  Name?— Saint  Isaac's  Cathedral. 

XVIII.  HOMEWARD  BOUND 249 

The     Voyage  —  Quarantine  —  Russian 
Detectives — A    Russian   Memento — 
Home   Again — Robinson  Crusoe. 
INDEX.  .  256 


LIST    OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 
A  Siberian  Village Colored  Frontispiece 

FAdNO  PAOB 

"  Small  Heart,  Fiery  Cart,"  Chinese  for  "  Look 

Out  for  the  Locomotive" 30 

Pastor  Te  (Virtue) 36 

Chinese  Soldiers  Saluting  on  Railway  Station 
in  Manchuria;   Trilingual  Railway  Sign  in 

Manchuria 39 

Russian  Cemetery  at  Port  Arthur 42 

Tunnel    with    Inscription,    "To   the   Atlantic 

Ocean  " 87 

Ice-breaker  "Baikal"  on  Lake  Baikal 95 

Hotel  Metropole,  Irkutsk;  Log-sliding  in  Park, 

Tomsk 104 

Lutheran  Church,  Irkutsk 108 

Statue  of  Alexander  III  at  Irkutsk Ill 

Museum  at  Irkutsk 112 

Cossack  General,  Lama  Head  Priest,  and  Sibe- 
rians at  Irkutsk 126 

"Everywhere  is  Life,"  Painting  by  Yaroshenko.  154 

Bacteriological  Institute,  Tomsk 190 

Old  Cathedral,  Tomsk 192 

The  Market,  Tomsk 194 

Tomb  of  Theodore  Kusmitsch,  Tomsk 202 

Timber  Raft  on  the  Volga 238 

Nijni-Novgorod,  with  World's  Fair  Grounds  on 

opposite  side  of  Oka  River 241 

Saint  Isaac's  at  St.  Petersburg 247 

Russian  Chapel  at  Wiesbaden 253 


FOREWORD 

On  vous  a  dit,  que  la  Russie  est  un  pays  ferm6; 
n'en  croyez  pas  un  mot.  Tout  ce  que  j'ai  desire 
voir,  je  1'ai  vu,  et  on  m'en  a  meme  montr6  plus 
que  je  n'en  demandais. — Victor  Tissot. 

Sketches  of  Travel 

IF  Henry  van  Dyke's  analysis  of  The  Spirit 
of  America  as  stated  in  his  lectures  before 
the  cultured  audiences  at  the  Sorbonne, 
Paris,  is  correct,  then  travel  in  a  foreign 
country,  or  observing  foreigners  in  other 
lands,  does  not  necessarily  give  an  outsider 
a  true  insight  into  the  real  genius  of  a  peo- 
ple. A  person  must  have  lived  long  enough 
in  a  foreign  land,  and  so  mingled  with  its 
inhabitants  as  to  know  their  hopes  and 
fears,  their  life  and  ideals,  before  he  is  able 
to  form  a  just  estimate  of  the  genius  of  a 
nation.  Now,  our  trio  were  simply  passing 
travelers.  These  are  nothing  more  than  im- 
perfect sketches  of  travel  roughly  drawn,  to 
keep  fresh  some  salient  sights  on  our  unique 
trip. 

It  certainly  was  unique  in  one  respect  at 
least,  for  not  until  Marion  and  her  mother 
stopped  over  at  Irkutsk  had  any  other  repre- 
sentative of  the  fair  sex,  other  than  Russian, 
ever  visited  that  thriving  Siberian  city.  This 
9 


12  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

such  as  we  in  vain  searched  for,  and  of  which 
we  would  gladly  have  availed  ourselves  be- 
fore undertaking  this  overland  journey. 

Our  Mascot 

Throughout  our  journeyings  in  the  Tsar's 
dominions,  we  were  entirely  free  from  any 
dread  of  being  shadowed  by  a  Russian  spy. 
During  our  sojourn  at  Tomsk,  the  capital 
of  Siberia,  we  were  not  even  asked  to  show 
our  passport.  Who  can  say  but  that  our  ex- 
emption from  all  such  espionage,  of  which 
travelers  in  Kussia  so  generally  complain, 
was  due  to  the  fact  that  a  playful  child  was 
unconsciously  acting  as  mascot  for  our  Taft 
party  ? 

Courtesy 

Travelers  sometimes  complain  of  incivility 
on  the  part  of  Russian  officials.  Such  was 
not  our  experience.  Now  and  here  I  desire 
to  record  our  high  appreciation  of  their  un- 
failing courtesy.  This  was  especially  notice- 
able from  officials  along  the  railway  lines 
and  in  public  buildings.  In  the  descriptions 
of  Irkutsk  and  Tomsk,  later  on,  more  de- 
tailed accounts  will  be  found. 

At  Saint  Petersburg  there  were  two  ob- 
jects, which  we  particularly  desired  to  ex- 
amine, the  Codex  Sinaiticus,  and  the  Vase 
of  Nikopol.  One  Brooklynite  had  lately 
written  to  a  New  York  periodical,  how  his 


FOREWORD  13 

party  had  been  hurried  through  the  Imperial 
Library,  without  seeing  this  celebrated  manu- 
script, discovered  by  Tischendorf  in  the  Con- 
vent of  Saint  Catherine  on  Mount  Sinai.  He, 
however,  determined  to  see  it.  So  he  relates 
how  he  stubbornly  refused  to  leave  the  build- 
ing, after  all  the  rest  of  his  party  had  gone 
out,  until  he  succeeded  in  gaining  his  point. 
Without  let  or  hindrance  it  was  shown  to  us, 
passing  travelers.  Provided  with  a  card 
from  our  old  friend,  United  States  Consul 
Eagsdale,  formerly  of  Tientsin,  China,  we 
were  escorted  by  a  polite  custodian  to  the 
stand,  where  this  sacred  treasure  was  care- 
fully wrapped  in  a  faded  yellowish  cloth. 
This  he  removed,  allowing  us  leisurely  to 
gaze  at  this  famous  parchment  and  to  ex- 
amine the  handwriting  of  Professor  Tischen- 
dorf attesting  the  genuineness  of  this  ancient 
New  Testament,  so  marvelously  preserved  to 
our  day. 

In  the  Hermitage  at  Saint  Petersburg, 
the  same  marked  courtesy  was  shown  to  us, 
perfect  strangers.  The  world-renowned 
silver  Vase  of  Nikopol  with  its  unique  chas- 
ing was  not  seated,  as  queen,  on  her  usual 
pedestal,  where  she  holds  undisputed  sway 
over  the  other  rare  beauties,  crowding  her 
throne-room  so  full.  A  suave  Russian  guard, 
so  soon  as  he  was  aware  of  our  desire,  guided 
us  to  an  official  in  civilian  attire,  busy  in 
his  office  nearby.  This  gentleman  explained 


14  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

to  us  that  the  vase  had  been  removed  to  be 
cleansed  and  would  not  be  again  on  exhi- 
bition for  several  days,  but  he  offered  to 
show  us  photographs  of  it.  Fortunately, 
just  as  we  were  leaving,  the  artisan  who 
was  renovating  it  came  along.  This  offi- 
cial explained  to  him  our  desire.  At  once 
they  both  started  to  escort  us  to  see  the 
vase.  On  the  way  the  head  official  asked 
us  whether  we  would  like  to  look  at  some 
other  rarities,  and  led  us  to  a  case  with 
glass  doors,  screened  by  inside  curtains. 
Unlocking  the  doors,  he  showed  us  a  won- 
derful collection  of  antique  figures  of  clay, 
some  in  their  natural  white,  and  others 
gilded  or  colored  with  various  delicate  tints. 
Then  we  walked  through  back  passageways 
to  another  building  and  entered  a  small 
workshop.  Before  us  stood  the  large  silver 
vase,  just  lifted  from  its  chemical  bath, 
which  workmen  were  busily  engaged  in  bur- 
nishing. The  size  and  graceful  contour  of 
this  celebrated  vase  charmed  us,  as  we  gazed 
upon  these  lifelike,  agile,  and  daring  cowboys 
of  days  gone  by.  These  Russian  officials 
seemed  delighted  to  have  us  carefully  scan 
the  lifelike  scenes  of  primitive  Scythians, 
chiseled  upon  this  choice  trophy  dating  back 
to  the  days  of  Alexander  the  Great.  Could 
a  custodian  of  the  National  Museum  at 
Washington,  or  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of 
Art,  New  York,  have  been  more  courteous? 


FOREWORD  15 

Occident  and  Orient 

A  new  cycle  marks  the  East,  both  far  and 
near.  Tremendous  changes  have  already 
taken  place.  The  commingled  strains  of 
Eastern  and  Western  life  in  Constantinople 
and  Tokyo  are  weaving  a  far  more  beautiful 
fabric  than  Joseph's  coat  of  many  colors. 
Shanghai  and  Cairo  in  their  weird,  ever- 
changing  color  effects,  and  their  incessant, 
startling  contrasts,  present  par  excellence 
the  most  fascinating  "living  pictures"  in  the 
world.  Unter  den  Linden,  Champs  Elyse'es, 
Rotten  Row,  and  Riverside  Drive,  with  all 
their  gorgeous  display,  are  tame  in  com- 
parison. 

To-day  along  the  thronged  Bubbling  Well 
Road,  Shanghai,  swarthy  coolies  may  be 
seen  trudging  wheelbarrows,  built  some- 
what on  the  lines  of  an  Irish  jaunting-car, 
upon  which  laughing  almond-eyed  maidens 
sit  back  to  back  with  their  tiny  feet  dan- 
gling in  the  air.  Suddenly,  the  toot  of  a  horn 
is  heard,  when  the  coolie  veering  his  load  to 
one  side,  barely  escapes  collision  with  a 
speeding  motor  car  and  its  European  oc- 
cupants. 

When  in  January,  1907,  our  steamer 
stopped  at  Alexandria,  Egypt,  a  clipping 
from  a  Cairo  newspaper  read  to  this  effect: 
"Major-General  Wingate  and  party  are  re- 
covering from  their  injuries,  received  in  an 


18  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

why  do  you  not  stop  at  the  Urals?"  Chiefly 
for  three  reasons:  First,  some  succinct 
knowledge  of  China  and  Manchuria,  on  the 
one  hand,  and  of  Russia  and  Europe  on  the 
other,  is  essential  as  a  proper  setting  to  any 
Siberian  sketches.  Secondly,  the  through 
Trans-Siberian  Expresses  do  not  come  to  a 
sudden  stop  at  the  Ural  Mountains,  but  ply 
regularly  between  Moscow  or  Saint  Peters- 
burg in  Russia,  and  Vladivostok  in  Asia, 
as  their  terminals.  Thirdly,  stopping  short 
at  the  marble  "Monument  of  Tears"  on  the 
frontier  between  Asia  and  Europe  might 
prove  to  be  as  embarrassingly  abrupt  as 
that  of  the  sprucely  dressed  sprig  of  a  tour- 
ist visiting  Quebec.  He  was  climbing  up 
one  of  the  narrow,  steep  streets,  leading  from 
the  lower  town  to  the  citadel  above.  A 
sudden  misstep  sent  him  coasting  down  the 
slippery  stones,  knocking  over  a  housewife 
with  her  basket  returning  from  market. 
Both  swiftly  tobogganed  together  until  they 
landed  at  the  base  of  the  mountain.  The 
woman,  whose  eyes  flashed  indignation  at 
the  author  of  her  ignominious  plight,  looked 
up  at  him,  as  if  expecting  an  apology.  As 
soon  as  he  could  extricate  himself  from  the 
scattered  market  produce  and  from  the  en- 
tangled skirts  of  his  chance  acquaintance, 
he  stood  erect  and  politely  touching  his  hat, 
remarked,  "Excuse  me,  madam — this  is  as 
far  as  I  go." 


CHAPTER  I 
To  Go  OR  NOT  TO  Go 

Distance  not  alone  separates  Russia  from  us,  but 
her  customs,  institutions,  language,  keep  up  high 
barriers  between  her  and  the  rest  of  Europe.  Po- 
litical and  religious  prejudices  raise  others. — 
LeRoy  Beaulieu,  Russia  and  the  Russians,  p.  2. 

Advice 

"You  had  better  not  stop  over  at  Harbin. 
It  is  very  unsafe  there.  Even  the  servants 
in  the  hotels  are  all  ex-convicts  and  crimi- 
nals. They  will  rob  you  of  your  money  and 
passport."  Such  was  the  startling,  gratui- 
tous advice  of  the  obliging  clerk  in  the 
Russo-Chinese  Bank  at  Tientsin,  China,  as 
we  were  tucking  away  in  our  pockets  a 
Letter  of  Credit,  a  roll  of  Russian  rouble 
bank  notes,  and  some  silver  kopeks. 

"I  would  not  advise  stopping  off  any- 
where short  of  Moscow  or  Petersburg.  There 
is  so  little  of  interest  in  any  Siberian  town," 
was  the  unsolicited  written  prescription  of 
a  Scotch  physician,  who  had  traveled  from 
Manchuria  with  his  family  over  the  newly 
opened  Trans-Siberian  Railway  to  Scotland 
and  back. 

'There  is  no  use  to  stop  over  in  Siberia. 
You  only  see  mudhuts,  as  in  any  miserable 
19 


16  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

accident,  when  their  motor  car  ran  into  a 
camel  on  the  road  to  the  Pyramids."  Some- 
times the  camel  gets  the  brunt  of  the  shock 
and  sometimes  the  autoists. 

Not  quite  two  millenniums  ago,  Alaric 
and  the  Huns,  and  later  Genghis  Khan  and 
his  Mongol  hordes,  swept  as  with  a  besom 
of  destruction  everything  out  of  their  way. 
In  our  time  the  Japanese  bantam  has  made 
the  Russian  bear  take  his  predatory  paws 
from  off  Port  Arthur  and  southern  Man- 
churia. Shall  our  eyes  see  the  Chinese  giant 
regain  his  ancestral  domains  in  Manchuria? 
Events  in  the  Far  East  just  now  seem  to  be 
pointing  that  way. 

Coincidences 

A  month  after  our  landing  at  New  York 
found  us  living  in  "our  own  hired  house" 
at  Lakehurst,  New  Jersey,  a  quiet  retreat 
amid  the  forests  and  lakes  of  the  famous 
pine-belt,  far  away  from  the  glare  and  stir 
of  modern  electrified  city  life.  To  our  sur- 
prise, we  found  here  a  genial  retired  octo- 
genarian, William  A.  Torrey,  who  had  lived 
in  Saint  Petersburg  when  Marshall  Jewell 
was  American  minister  there.  By  his  busi- 
ness tact  he  had  succeeded  in  supplying 
American  torpedoes  for  the  Russian  navy 
and  Baldwin  locomotives  for  the  Air  Line 
between  Saint  Petersburg  and  Moscow.  In 
his  parlor  was  an  artistic  specimen  of  brass- 


FOREWORD  17 

work,  presented  to  him  by  the  Tsar  as  a 
token  of  personal  friendship.  The  group 
represented  the  Tsar  and  his  driver  seated 
in  a  sleigh  drawn  bj  two  prancing  steeds 
in  regular  Russian  style. 

Another  coincidence  refers  to  some  un- 
couth footgear,  purchased  on  our  overland 
trip,  merely  a  pair  of  heavy  Russian  ga- 
loches.  They  were  probably  a  product  of 
one  of  the  enormous  factories  of  the  Russo- 
American  Rubber  Trust  at  Saint  Petersburg. 
One  morning,  a  Russian  Jew,  a  peddler, 
chanced  to  come  along.  Recognizing  these 
Russian  rubbers,  he  asked,  "Where  did  you 
get  these?"  When  he  was  told  he  replied, 
looking  as  wise  as  Solomon,  "I  thought  you 
did  not  buy  them  in  this  country." 

Yankee  Notion 

The  caustic  comment,  attributed  years 
ago  to  a  quaint  old  American  minister  at 
Saint  Petersburg,  is  just  as  pertinent  to- 
day :  "What  Russia  needs  most  is  more  soap 
and  spelling-books,  fewer  princes  and  more 
country  schoolmasters;  fewer  diamonds  on 
the  barebacked  court  ladies  in  Petersburg 
and  more  broken  stones  on  the  country 
roads." 

Abrupt  Stop 

One  may  ask,  "Since  your  title  is  'Strange 
Siberia  along  the  Trans-Siberian  Railway,' 


18  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

why  do  you  not  stop  at  the  Urals  ?"  Chiefly 
for  three  reasons:  First,  some  succinct 
knowledge  of  China  and  Manchuria,  on  the 
one  hand,  and  of  Russia  and  Europe  on  the 
other,  is  essential  as  a  proper  setting  to  any 
Siberian  sketches.  Secondly,  the  through 
Trans-Siberian  Expresses  do  not  coine  to  a 
sudden  stop  at  the  Ural  Mountains,  but  ply 
regularly  between  Moscow  or  Saint  Peters- 
burg in  Russia,  and  Vladivostok  in  Asia, 
as  their  terminals.  Thirdly,  stopping  short 
at  the  marble  "Monument  of  Tears"  on  the 
frontier  between  Asia  and  Europe  might 
prove  to  be  as  embarrassingly  abrupt  as 
that  of  the  sprucely  dressed  sprig  of  a  tour- 
ist visiting  Quebec.  He  was  climbing  up 
one  of  the  narrow,  steep  streets,  leading  from 
the  lower  town  to  the  citadel  above.  A 
sudden  misstep  sent  him  coasting  down  the 
slippery  stones,  knocking  over  a  housewife 
with  her  basket  returning  from  market. 
Both  swiftly  tobogganed  together  until  they 
landed  at  the  base  of  the  mountain.  The 
woman,  whose  eyes  flashed  indignation  at 
the  author  of  her  ignominious  plight,  looked 
up  at  him,  as  if  expecting  an  apology.  As 
soon  as  he  could  extricate  himself  from  the 
scattered  market  produce  and  from  the  en- 
tangled skirts  of  his  chance  acquaintance, 
he  stood  erect  and  politely  touching  his  hat, 
remarked,  "Excuse  me,  madam — this  is  as 
far  as  I  go." 


Distance  not  alone  separates  Russia  from  us,  but 
her  customs,  institutions,  language,  keep  up  high 
barriers  between  her  and  the  rest  of  Europe.  Po- 
litical and  religious  prejudices  raise  others. — 
LeRoy  Beaulieu,  Russia  and  the  Russians,  p.  2. 

Advice 

"You  had  better  not  stop  over  at  Harbin. 
It  is  very  unsafe  there.  Even  the  servants 
in  the  hotels  are  all  ex-convicts  and  crimi- 
nals. They  will  rob  you  of  your  money  and 
passport."  Such  was  the  startling,  gratui- 
tous advice  of  the  obliging  clerk  in  the 
Russo-Chinese  Bank  at  Tientsin,  China,  as 
we  were  tucking  away  in  our  pockets  a 
Letter  of  Credit,  a  roll  of  Russian  rouble 
bank  notes,  and  some  silver  kopeks. 

"I  would  not  advise  stopping  off  any- 
where short  of  Moscow  or  Petersburg.  There 
is  so  little  of  interest  in  any  Siberian  town," 
was  the  unsolicited  written  prescription  of 
a  Scotch  physician,  who  had  traveled  from 
Manchuria  with  his  family  over  the  newly 
opened  Trans-Siberian  Railway  to  Scotland 
and  back. 

'There  is  no  use  to  stop  over  in  Siberia. 
You  only  see  mudhuts,  as  in  any  miserable 

19 


20  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

Chinese  village,"  volunteered  an  American 
lady,  who  had  come  through  from  Moscow 
to  Peking  in  an  express  train.  To  stop  over 
anywhere  in  Siberia  seemed  generally  to  be 
considered  as  downright  folly.  Rapidly 
rushing  across  was  the  popular  fad.  One 
pushing  Yankee  had  actually  made  the  trip 
from  New  York  to  Peking  in  twenty-eight 
days,  and  boasted  that  he  could  have  made 
the  journey  in  two  days  less  time  had  he 
not  delayed  one  day  in  London  and  another 
in  Moscow.  A  distinguished  author,  who 
had  traveled  from  Vladivostok  to  Moscow,  in 
reply  to  our  query  whether  he  had  visited 
Tomsk  on  his  Siberian  trip,  said,  "I  merely 
saw  the  city  while  the  train  stopped  there." 
A  most  remarkable  case  of  hyperopia!  No 
other  mortal  was  ever  endowed  with  such 
powerful  eyesight  as  to  pierce  the  dense, 
primeval  forests  from  Taiga,  the  junction, 
to  Tomsk,  the  capital  of  Siberia.  The  fact 
is  that  Tomsk  lies  at  the  northern  terminus 
of  a  branch  line,  sixty  miles  distant  from 
the  main  transcontinental  railway.  After 
the  traveler  has  arrived  at  Tomsk  he  alights 
at  a  handsome,  snowy-white  depot,  situated 
amid  an  extensive  white  birch  park.  All 
through  Siberia  the  railway  stations  have 
not  been  built  near  the  cities,  but  many  miles 
away.  Some  think  that  this  was  done  for 
political  reasons,  while  others  assert  that, 
like  the  enterprises  of  Tammany,  the  object 


TO  GO  OR  NOT  TO  GO  21 

was  graft.  Such,  evidently,  was  the  case 
of  Tomsk,  as  we  later  learned  from  an  in- 
telligent resident  of  this  important  center, 
which  now  unfortunately  and  inconveniently 
lies  far  away  from  the  main  trunk  line. 

Early  Desire  and  Late  Decision 

However,  we  were  not  so  easily  dissuaded 
from  our  purpose.  Such  advice,  no  matter 
how  well  intended,  so  much  resembled  the 
cheap  article  generally  current  in  the  mar- 
ket, the  product  of  ignorance  and  prejudice, 
that  we  simply  took  it  at  its  face  value.  For 
years  we  had  decided  that  if  we  should  ever 
travel  through  Kussian  territory,  we  would 
not  dash  through  on  an  "Express  Rapide," 
even  if  it  were  fast  and  luxuriously 
equipped. 

Kussia,  land  of  mystery,  autocracy,  and 
promise,  had  long  had  an  irresistible  fasci- 
nation for  us.  So  we  steadily  kept  on  with 
our  preparations,  determined  to  stop  over 
at  important  points  in  order  to  study  at 
close  range  the  life  of  the  people. 

This  purpose  was  strengthened  by  the  fact 
that  Baedeker,  in  his  guidebook  on  Russia, 
mentioned  Lutheran  churches  in  all  large 
Siberian  and  Russian  cities  and  towns.  So 
we  concluded  that,  if  necessary,  we  could 
fall  back  on  the  knowledge  of  German,  with 
which  a  two  years'  course  of  study  in  Leip- 
zig, Bonn,  and  Heidelberg  had  equipped  us. 


22  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

Near  the  confines  of  Russia  at  Koenigs- 
burg,  one  summer,  we  had  watched  the 
Polish  Jews,  clad  in  flowing  robes  and  wear- 
ing long,  shaggy  beards  of  precisely  the  same 
cut  as  their  kinsmen  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Russian  border.  The  appetite  to  visit  this 
immense,  mysterious  land  was  further 
whetted  by  the  realistic  accounts  which 
our  parents  gave  of  their  personal  expe- 
riences during  a  tour  in  European  Russia. 
Again,  in  1886,  our  family  spent  a  summer 
at  Kalgan,  where  we  enjoyed  delightful  so- 
cial intercourse  with  the  family  of  a  Russian 
merchant,  engaged  in  the  overland  tea  trade. 
It  was  by  this  inland  route,  traversing  the 
desert  of  Gobi,  that  the  missionaries  of  the 
American  Board,  stationed  at  Kalgan,  es- 
caped the  fury  of  the  Boxers.1  This  sum- 
mer, 1910,  a  railway,  built  entirely  by 
Chinese,  whose  engineers  had  studied  in  the 
United  States,  has  been  opened  from  Peking 
to  Kalgan.  When  extended,  it  will  be  an 
Air  Line  from  Peking  to  Irkutsk,  eliminat- 
ing hundreds  of  miles  and  several  days  from 
the  present  roundabout  route  via  Mukden 
and  Harbin,  Manchuria.  Through  the  cour- 
tesy of  Engineer  Yen — a  graduate  of  Lehigh 
University,  Pennsylvania — we  had,  in  the 
fall  of  1908,  the  rare  privilege  of  riding  in  an 
observation-car  up  through  the  famous  Nan- 
kow  Pass.  On  the  opposite  side  we  could 

JA  Flight  for  Life,  by  J.  H.  Roberts. 


TO  GO  OR  NOT  TO  GO  23 

see,  trudging  along  the  old  caravan  road, 
strings  of  Bactrian  camels,  droves  of  black, 
razor-backed  swine,  fat-tailed  sheep,  black- 
haired  goats,  and  occasionally  swarthy  Mon- 
gols in  gaudy  attire  and  dirty  sheepskins,  in- 
termingled with  Peking  carts,  sedan  chairs, 
and  mule-litters,  as  in  centuries  past. 

Besides,  we  had  spent  a  summer  month,  in 
1883,  at  Vladivostok,  beautiful  for  situa- 
tion. There  Lieutenant  Nevinsky,  a  Rus- 
sian naval  officer  in  whose  home  we  were 
staying,  treated  us  most  cordially,  showing 
us  sights  on  shore  and  taking  us  in  a  small 
collapsible  boat  on  the  magnificent  bay  to 
witness  some  Whitehead-torpedo  practice. 
Never  can  we  forget  his  hospitality  in  tak- 
ing us  in.  His  furnished  house  was  pro- 
vided with  only  one  double  bed  and  one 
couch,  which  he  generously  placed  at  the  dis- 
posal of  our  party.  When  we  protested, 
"But  wrhere  will  you  sleep?"  he  replied  in 
Teutonic  English:' "That's  all  right.  I  shall 
"become  a  bed."  Later,  we  learned  that  he 
had  extemporized  a  long  steamer-chair  for 
sleeping  purposes. 

To-day,  Vladivostok,  "Queen  of  the  East," 
as  the  name  signifies,  is  the  eastern  termi- 
nus of  the  great  Trans-Siberian  Railway. 
The  corresponding  western  garrison  city  in 
the  Caucasus  is  called  Vladikaukas,  or 
"Queen  of  the  Caucasus."  At  one  end  of  the 
long  main  avenue  of  Vladivostok  stands  the 


24  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

imposing  statue  of  Admiral  Nevelskoi,  on 
which,  are  the  bombastic  but  historically 
untrue  words  of  Tsar  Nicholas  I,  "Where 
the  Eussian  flag  has  been  hoisted  it  must 
never  be  lowered."  At  the  other  end,  where 
the  railway  runs  across  the  boulevard  to- 
ward Europe,  is  a  post  on  which  is  engraved 
in  gigantic  letters  the  plain  notice, 

Vladivostok  to  St.  Petersburg, 

9922 
Versts. 

These  different  glimpses  on  the  eastern, 
western,  and  southern  frontiers  of  the  Tsar's 
realm  only  served  to  intensify  our  longing 
and  confirm  our  decision  to  cross  over  the 
borderland  and  leisurely  travel  through  the 
heart  of  this  extensive  country.  So  no  halt 
was  made  in  our  preparations. 

Not  only  did  we  devour  various  volumes 
on  its  history,  travel,  and  folklore,  but  we 
delved  into  its  cumbrous  language  for  ordi- 
nary, useful  phrases,  that  afterward  proved 
invaluable. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  RUSSIAN  LANGUAGE 

"Nothing  is  worse  than  a  barrier  to  the  com- 
munication of  thought,"  was  the  lament  of  Li 
Kamon  no  Kami,  the  Premier  of  the  Shogunate, 
who,  after  Commodore  Perry's  arrival  at  Japan, 
had  to  make  a  treaty  with  "Western  Barbarians," 
of  whose  language  and  intentions  he  knew  noth- 
ing. Later  this  same  premier,  because  of  his  pro- 
gressive stand,  fell  by  the  hand  of  a  conservative. 

Russian  Literature 

,,3KCl4E/ibC!OPT>". 

"EXCELSIOB"  IN  BUSSIAN 

"THE  Russian  language,"  says  Yon  Schier- 
brand,  "is  of  a  wonderful  richness  and  flexi- 
bility, permitting  the  writer  to  adapt  his 
thought  precisely  to  his  words.  It  easily 
expresses  every  shade  of  meaning,  even  the 
faintest,  as  well  as  every  mood.  In  that  re- 
spect it  is  without  doubt  the  most  perfect 
instrument  for  literary  work.  .  .  .  Russian 
literary  works,  on  their  part,  lose  much  of 
their  literary  flavor  by  rendering  into  any 
other  tongue  more  than  would  translations 
from  the  Italian,  English,  German,  or 
French.  .  .  .  The  greatest,  perhaps,  of  all 
psychological  novels  ever  written  in  any 
literature  is  Dostoyevsky's  Crime  and  Punish- 
25 


26  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

ment,  when  read  in  the  original.  Looking 
at  other  departments  of  literature,  what 
could  be  more  finished  in  its  way  than 
Aksakoffs  Family  Chronicles?  By  perfectly 
simple,  apparently  naive  means,  in  limpid 
and  quite  natural  language,  we  here  gaze 
down  to  the  very  bottom  of  the  Russian  soul 
and  are  enabled  to  fathom  its  complexities. 
What  warmth  in  the  description  of  men  and 
nature!  Or,  taking  TerpigorefFs  greatest 
story,  Decadence — it  is  a  veritable  treasure- 
trove  for  the  student  of  Russian  social  con- 
ditions, so  minute  and  photographically 
correct."1 

However,  most  foreigners,  like  a  certain 
Englishman,  regard  the  Russian  language, 
with  its  elaborate  alphabet  of  thirty-six  let- 
ters, "as  a  combination  of  good  English 
letters  and  a  large  assortment  of  inverted, 
reversed,  and  nondescript  characters." 

The  Spoken  Language 

The  excellencies  of  the  written  language 
may  all  be  true,  but  for  the  tourist  the 
spoken  language  is  far  more  important  and 
usually  quite  difficult.  As  Marco  Polo 
shrewdly  observes,  "They  (the  Russians) 
have  a  language  of  their  own,"  which,  un- 
like English,  German,  or  French,  is  not  cur- 
rent outside  their  country.  Once,  when 

1  Russia,  Her  Strength  and  Weakness,  by  Wolf  von 
Schierbrand,  pp.  235,  236. 


THE  RUSSIAN  LANGUAGE  27 

crossing  the  Pacific  on  the  steamship  Ocean- 
ic, there  was  a  big,  gruff-looking  Russian, 
quite  conspicuous  on  deck  by  his  loud  talk- 
ing in  rough,  rasping  tones.  One  day  a 
little  American  morsel  of  humanity  peered 
up  at  the  tall  figure  as  she  asked,  anxiously, 
"Doesn't  it  hurt  your  froat  to  talk  dat  way?" 

More  than  one  traveler  through  Russia 
has  had  to  resort  to  the  sign-language,  usu- 
ally more  or  less  effective.  Even  that  does 
not  always  work,  as  a  versatile  American 
frankly  admits  when  he  endeavored  to  pur- 
chase eggs  in  a  Siberian  market,  "The  sign- 
language  for  once  failed  to  convey  my  mean- 
ing. When  I  was  at  my  wits'  end  I  cackled 
and  the  farmers  at  once  brought  me  out  as 
many  eggs  as  I  wanted."1 

Aware  of  these  practical  difficulties,  we 
took  the  precaution  to  take  lessons  in  Rus- 
sian from  a  native,  committed  to  memory 
useful  words  and  phrases,  and  practiced  on 
every  Russian-speaking  person  whom  we 
chanced  to  meet.  This  proved  our  salvation, 
for  in  the  large  hotels  at  Irkutsk,  Russian, 
and  Russian  only,  was  spoken.  It  was  also 
indispensable  at  many  other  times  and 
places,  as  in  dealing  with  street  venders, 
shopkeepers,  and  drosky-drivers. 

Cultured  Russians,  who  can  converse  flu- 
ently in  German,  English,  or  French,  reside 
in  all  large  cities,  but  the  traveler  does  not 

1  A  Flight  for  Life,  by  J.  H.  Roberts,  p.  294. 


28  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

usually  meet  them.  At  Irkutsk  we  were 
entertained  by  a  Russian  physician,  who  had 
studied  medicine  in  London.  In  order  to 
improve  his  English  he  was  at  that  time 
arranging  to  form  a  class  or  "circle,"  as  he 
called  it,  for  the  practice  of  English  con- 
versation. At  his  request  we  made  out  a 
public  notice  for  an  English  "Conversazione" 
to  be  held  once  a  week. 

At  Tomsk  an  erudite  professor  in  the 
governmental  University  was  detailed  to 
conduct  us  through  the  well-stocked  rooms 
of  the  Museum.  Our  guide  was  unable  to 
speak  anything  except  his  native  tongue. 
His  eager,  kindly  desire  to  explain  various 
rare  specimens  wasi  seriously  hampered. 
The  Latin  and  Russian  labels  proved  of 
greater  assistance.  After  we  had  finished 
our  inspection  and  he  had  escorted  us  down 
the  main  staircase  into  the  capacious  hall, 
with  a  polite  bow  and  a  gracious  smile  he 
uttered  the  word  "Esperanto."  We  cer- 
tainly needed  some  such  talisman.  Who  is 
enough  of  a  linguistic  prophet  to  foretell 
whether  the  key  to  international  intercourse 
will  be  Esperanto,  or,  as  others  with  good 
reason  think,  English?  At  any  rate,  we 
were  firmly  convinced  that  our  visit  to  the 
Tomsk  Museum  was  surely  as  satisfactory 
to  us  as  was  that  of  Peter  the  Great  to  the 
Kunst  Museum  of  Dresden.  Waliszewski 
narrates  how  that  monarch  arrived  late  one 


THE  RUSSIAN  LANGUAGE  29 

evening  at  Dresden,  after  a  day  of  such 
fatiguing  travel  that  all  his  retinue  were 
reduced  to  a  state  of  utter  exhaustion.  How- 
ever, the  moment  after  the  Tsar  had  finished 
dining  he  insisted  on  going  to  the  already 
celebrated  Art  Gallery,  where  he  arrived  at 
one  o'clock  in  the  morning  and  spent  the  rest 
of  the  night  trying  to  satisfy  his  curiosity 
by  torchlight.1 

1  Peter  the  Great,  by  Waliszewskl,   p.   130. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  START 

The  problem  of  Asia  is  a  world-problem,  which 
has  come  upon  the  world  in  an  age  when,  through 
the  rapidity  of  communication,  it  is  wide-awake 
and  sensitive,  as  never  before. — Captain  A.  T. 
Mahan,  in  The  Problem  of  Asia. 

Changli,  China 

THE  fast  mail  from  Peking  to  Shanhai- 
kuan  arrived  at  Changli  a  little  late  on  the 
afternoon  of  May  13,  1909.  Our  trio  bade 
farewell  to  the  friends,  Chinese  and  foreign, 
who  had  gathered  at  the  station.  The  boys 
of  the  day  school,  drawn  up  in  line  on  the 
platform  and  dressed  in  their  new  uniforms, 
saluted  "good-by"  in  true  military  style. 
Fortunately,  we  were  not  in  the  plight  of  the 
father  and  mother,  described  in  the  Flie- 
gende  Blatter.  These  parents  were  sketched 
as  anxiously  examining  their  huge  con- 
fused pile  of  trunks,  bags,  bird  cage,  go- 
cart,  bandboxes,  and  other  paraphernalia, 
to  be  sure  that  nothing  had  been  overlooked. 
The  train  was  nearing  the  station  when  the 
mother,  realizing  that  something  important 
was  missing,  frantically  screamed,  "Where 
is  the  baby?" 

The  boisterous  crowd  of  fruit-sellers  were 
30 


"SMALL  HKART.  FIKRY  CART" 
Chinese  for  "Look  Out  for  the  Locomotive" 


THE  START  31 

as  usual  hawking  the  delicious  fruit  for 
which  Changli  is  noted.  Mr.  Mayers,  of  the 
United  States  Department  of  Agriculture, 
had  visited  this  region  and  had  returned  to 
America,  carrying  as  part  of  his  spoils  the 
thin  paper-shell  English  walnuts  grown 
here.  The  large,  luscious  red  persimmons, 
whether  fresh  and  juicy  or  dried  like  figs, 
are  favorites,  as  are  also  various  species  of 
choice  grapes,  from  the  light  green  seedless 
variety  to  the  large,  plump  purple  kind, 
which  the  Chinese  know  how  to  keep  fresh 
all  through  the  winter,  and  offer  for  sale 
even  as  late  as  May. 

Last  winter's  revival  had  invaded  the 
ranks  of  these  fruit-sellers  and  claimed  a 
Mr.  Wu  as  a  Christian  convert.  Shortly 
after,  he  came  to  our  native  pastor,  Rev. 
Liu  Fang,  and  frankly  confessed  that,  as  a 
Christian,  he  could  no  longer  pad  the  bottom 
of  his  fruit  baskets  with  leaves,  as  was  the 
custom. 

For  ways  that  are  dark, 
And  for  tricks  that  are  vain, 
The  heathen  Chinee  is  peculiar, 

but  the  Christian  Chinese,  as  the  Boxer  up- 
rising revealed  to  an  incredulous  world,  is 
quite  a  different  article. 

Friendliness 

In  the  northeast  section  of  China,  near 
the  Great  Wall,  the  mandarins  have  been 


STRANGE  SIBERIA 

extremely  friendly.  The  recent  skillful  cure 
by  an  American  physician  of  five  Chinese 
commercial  travelers,  who  had  been  brutally 
mutilated  by  cut-throats,  increased  their 
friendly  attitude.  Near  by  were  stationed 
two  camps  of  cavalry,  commanded  by  Gen- 
eral Ting,  who  manifested  marked  courtesy 
toward  us.  It  happened  that  we  had  met 
him  a  couple  of  times  on  a  railway  train 
and  had  greeted  him  civilly,  as  we  would 
any  chance  acquaintance.  Accidentally  we 
learned  from  a  military  official  of  lower 
rank  that  he  was  calling  himself  our  friend. 
Shortly  after  hearing  this  we  visited  him 
at  his  headquarters  in  a  temple  by  his  camps. 
He  treated  us  to  Chinese  tea  and  English 
biscuits  and  expressed  a  desire  to  prepare  a 
banquet  in  our  honor.  This  we  politely  de- 
clined. Thereupon  he  offered  to  send  around 
his  own  carts,  sedan  chairs,  and  horses  to 
take  us  to  the  station.  We  protested  that 
this  was  unnecessary,  but,  to  our  surprise, 
when  we  walked  out  into  the  street  to  climb 
into  our  own  hired  cart,  we  found  General 
Ting's  official  equipages  already  there  await- 
ing us.  So  Mrs.  Taft  accepted  his  highly 
decorated  mulecart,  with  official  servants 
and  outrider,  wearing  the  regulation  tas- 
seled  hat,  while  her  husband  mounted  one 
of  his  elaborately  caparisoned  horses,  pre- 
ceded by  a  fat  outrider  on  a  strutting  steed. 
In  this  high  Chinese  fashion  we  proceeded 


THE  START  33 

to    the    station — a    spectacle   to    men    and 
angels. 

Such  ostentatious  kindliness  was  a  most 
decided  and  agreeable  change  from  the  ex- 
periences of  foreigners  some  thirty  years 
earlier.  Mobs  cursing,  pelting,  and  maltreat- 
ing ''outside  kingdom  men"  were  then  no 
uncommon  events  in  China.  At  Chinkiang, 
in  walking  from  our  home  to  the  chapel  up 
the  main,  narrow  business  street,  the  shop- 
keepers on  either  side  would  hiss  out  like 
so  many  serpents,  "Sah  Yang-kueitze!  Sah 
Yang-kucitze!"  ("Kill  the  foreign  devil! 
Kill  the  foreign  devil !")  Once  an  American 
friend  of  ours  was  pursued  by  a  butcher 
with  a  cleaver  in  his  hand.  Maltreatment  of 
this  sort  would  seem  strange  and  unusual  to- 
day, so  radically  has  changeless  China 
changed. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  GREAT  WALL 

He  [Samuel  Johnson]  expressed  a  particular 
enthusiasm  with  respect  to  visiting  the  Wall  of 
China.  I  catched  It  for  the  moment  and  said  I 
really  believed  I  should  go  and  see  the  Wall  of 
China,  had  I  not  had  children,  of  whom  it  was  my 
duty  to  take  charge.  "Sir!"  said  he,  "by  doing  so 
you  would  do  what  would  be  of  importance  in  rais- 
ing your  children  to  eminence.  There  would  be 
a  luster  reflected  upon  them  from  your  spirit  and 
curiosity.  They  would  be  at  all  times  regarded, 
as  the  children  of  a  man  who  had  gone  to  view 
the  Wall  of  China.  I  am  serious,  sir!" — Bosicell's 
Life  of  Johnson. 

The  Great  Wall  of  China 

THE  Great  Wall  of  China — comparable  in 
its  massiveness  and  forced  labor  expended 
on  it  to  the  Hanging  Gardens  of  Babylon 
or  the  Pyramids  of  Egypt — after  rambling 
for  some  thousand  miles  up  and  down  the 
frontier  ranges  of  China,  makes  its  final 
plunge  into  the  sea  at  Shanhaikuan  (The 
Barrier  of  Mountain  and  Sea).  The  break 
in  this  barrier  of  solid  masonry,  through 
which  the  railway  runs,  occurred,  according 
to  a  popular  legend,  in  this  way : 

Legend 

Among  the  horde  of  laborers  impressed 
by  the   despot   Chin   Shih   Wang  into   the 
34 


THE  GREAT  WALL  35 

task  of  building  the  Great  Wall  was  a  young 
man  from  a  southern  province.  At  the  ap- 
proach of  cool  autumn  days  the  fair  Meng 
Chiang  Nil,  his  betrothed,  left  her  peaceful 
southern  home  to  bring  him  a  warm  wadded 
coat,  the  product  of  her  summer's  labor,  to 
shield  him  from  the  northern  blasts.  After 
toiling  many  a  dusty  mile,  she  reached  the 
Great  Wall  only  to  learn  that  he  with  many 
others  had  fallen  under  the  pressure  of  the 
work  and  for  a  burial  had  been  built  into 
the  Wall  itself.  Despairing  and  disconso- 
late, she  prayed  unto  the  gods.  In  a  dream 
she  was  told  to  walk  along  the  top  of  the 
Wall  to  the  west.  While  obeying  the  injunc- 
tion, she  could  not  keep  from  biting  her 
finger-tips  in  her  agony.  Suddenly  a  large 
section  of  the  Wall  fell  flat,  and  where  the 
blood  touched  her  lover's  bones,  it  was  in- 
stantly absorbed.  In  frantic  joy  at  the  re- 
sponse, she  wrapped  them  tenderly  in  the 
wadded  coat.  But  word  had  gone  to  the  em- 
peror that  a  great  breach  had  been  made  in 
his  Wall  by  a  woman.  Exceedingly  incensed, 
the  tyrant  ordered  her  to  come  before  him. 
On  seeing  her,  he  was  so  smitten  by  her  sur- 
passing loveliness  and  her  pathetic  tale  that, 
without  delay,  he  made  overtures  for  her  to 
become  his  queen.  She  consented  only  on 
three  conditions:  First,  he  must  dispose  of 
the  other  wives  in  his  harem;  secondly,  he 
must  allow  her  former  lover  a  grand  funeral; 


36  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

and,  thirdly,  she  herself  must  superintend 
the  funeral  ceremonies. 

So  infatuated  was  he  that  he  readily 
agreed  to  all  the  terms  proposed.  A  hand- 
somely wrought  girdle  of  imperial  gold  was 
presented  her,  while  she  made  ready  for  the 
funeral.  With  heart  weighed  down  by  sad- 
ness, she  bore  her  heavy  load  to  the  top  of  a 
beetling  cliff  projecting  into  the  sea  and,  to 
the  astonishment  of  all,  leaped  with  her 
burden  into  the  waters.  To-day  on  that 
spot  stands  an  island,  to  which  the  Chinese 
point  in  proof  of  the  legend,  and  a  few 
leagues  inland,  on  a  lonely  eminence,  is  a 
temple  protecting  a  mute,  girlish  figure  with 
eyes  turned  toward  the  sacred  place,  where 
rest  all  the  mortal  remains  of  herself  and 
her  lover. 

Pastor  Virtue 

We  appreciated  the  great  privilege  of 
spending  our  last  night  in  China  at  Shan- 
haikuan  in  the  neat,  happy  home  of  Pastor 
Te  (Virtue).  Upon  his  head  the  Boxers 
had  placed  a  reward  of  a  hundred  silver 
taels,  but  the  Almighty  graciously  and  mar- 
velously  spared  the  useful  life  of  his  servant. 
Once  he  foiled  his  pursuers  by  sleeping  in 
an  empty  coffin,  and  another  time  by  hiding, 
like  Elijah,  in  a  cave  on  the  mountainside, 
where  food  was  stealthily  furnished  him  by 
a  faithful  Christian.  We  were  most  hos- 


PASTOR  TE 


THE  GREAT  WALL  37 

pitably  entertained,  and  enjoyed  looking  at 
his  collection  of  curious  clocks,  ticking  va- 
rious times  in  happy  discord.  Geil,  the  inde- 
fatigable ''Yankee  on  the  Yangtse,"  started 
the  previous  winter  on  his  circuitous  trail 
along  the  Great  Wall  from  this  same  hospi- 
table hospice. 


CHAPTER  V 

MUKDEN 

Mukden  ranks  not  only  with  the  signal  military 
defeats  of  history,  but  with  the  disasters.  Not 
only  was  Kirin,  two  hundred  miles  in  the  rear, 
stricken  with  panic,  but  an  exodus  from  Harbin 
to  Siberia,  and  from  Vladivostok  took  place.  The 
Grand  Army  might  be  likened  in  its  dejection  to 
the  vanquished  armies  of  Napoleon,  because  utter 
defeat  was  something  that,  to  both  of  them,  had 
been  an  impossibility. — The  Tragedy  of  Russia, 
Frederick  McCormick. 

Imperial  Railways  of  North  China 

AFTER  an  early  breakfast  at  Shanhaikuan, 
we  left  on  the  eight  o'clock  train  of  the  Im- 
perial Railways  of  North  China,  reaching 
Mukden  on  time  at  6 :35  p.  M.  This  railway 
had  one  through  train  a  week  from  Peking 
to  Mukden.  According  to  statistics,  it 
cleared  4,000,000  yen,  net,  in  1908.  A  part 
of  this  profit  has  been  expended  on  building 
the  Peking-Kalgan  Air  Line,  to  which  refer- 
ence has  already  been  made. 

The  gauge  of  this  Chinese  Railway,  like 
the  standard  American  and  European,  is 
four  feet  eight  and  one  half  inches,  and  that 
of  the  Trans-Siberian  is  five  feet,  while  the 
Japanese  gauge  is  three  feet  six  inches.1 

1  Wm.  Barclay  Parsons,  An  American  Engineer  In 
China,  pp.  280,  281. 

38 


CHINESE  SOLDIERS,  SALUTING  ox  RAILROAD  STATION, 
IN  MANCHURIA 


TRILINGUAL  RAILWAY  SIGN  IN  MANCHURIA 


MUKDEN  39 

At  every  station  the  railway  police  and 
soldiers  were  lined  up  to  salute  a  high  mili- 
tary mandarin  named  Chang,  who  was 
traveling  in  a  private  car  attached  to  our 
train.  The  names  of  the  stations  were  dis- 
played on  signposts  in  three  languages — 
Russian  on  one  side,  English  on  the  other, 
while  Chinese  occupied  the  middle  position 
on  the  post  itself,  as  if  wedging  the  two 
others  aside.  Is  this  a  mere  play  of  chance 
or  a  happy  omen? 

Russia  and  Manchuria 

In  ancient  times  Scythia  occupied  the 
place  which  Russia  now  takes  in  our  geog- 
raphies. Herodotus  tells  how,  in  those 
early  days,  the  Scythians,  by  retreating 
farther  into  their  wild  fastnesses,  brought 
disaster  upon  Darius  and  his  advancing 
hosts.  Centuries  later,  the  Russians,  under 
Rostopchin,  adopted  the  same  policy  against 
Napoleon  and  his  invading  army.  By 
burning  Moscow,  destroying  provisions,  and 
deserting  the  city,  they  thwarted  his  genius, 
humiliated  his  pride,  and  hastened  his  down- 
fall. Now,  as  we  look  at  the  recent  steady 
retreat  of  the  Russian  army  in  Manchuria, 
is  it  possible  that  the  Russians  are  again 
practicing  these  same  tactics,  by  which  in 
the  long  run  they  will  profit  in  like  manner? 
Or  will  the  Chinese — persistent,  peaceful, 
and  prolific — regain  their  ancestral  do- 


40  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

mains  ?  Many  maintain  that  ultimately  Rus- 
sian, Japanese,  and  all  other  invaders  will 
be  banished  from  Manchuria,  and  that  it  is 
only  a  matter  of  time  before  awakened 
China  will  assert  herself  and  come  again 
to  her  own.1 

Port  Arthur 

The  previous  October,  a  memorable  trip  to 
Port  Arthur — the  present  southern  terminus 
of  the  South  Manchuria  Railway  controlled 
by  Japanese — had  given  us  an  insight  into 
Japanese  rule  on  the  mainland  of  Asia. 
This  railway  proceeds  via  Dalny  and  Muk- 
den northward  to  Kuan  Ch'dng-tze,  its  junc- 
tion with  the  Russian  branch  line  south  of 
Harbin. 

At  the  time  of  our  visit  Port  Arthur,  once 
crowded  with  Russians,  had  only  a  single 
Muscovite  living  in  the  city.  He  was  appar- 
ently left  stranded  there,  for  his  residence, 
as  printed  on  his  carte  de  visite,  was  in  the 
Pristan  quarter  of  Harbin.  The  sight  of  a 
lone  Chinaman  strolling  along  a  street  in 
classic  Rome  so  stirred  the  poetic  genius  of 
Goethe,  that  he  wrote  that  gem  of  a  poem  en- 
titled, "Der  Chinese  in  Rom."  Who  knows 
but  that  before  many  days  the  long-awaited 

1  The  Coming  Struggle  In  Eastern  Asia,  by  B.  L.  Put- 
nam-Weale,  p.  6.  Greater  Russia,  by  William  Oliver 
Greener,  p.  209.  Russia,  Her  Strength  and  Weakness, 
by  Wolf  von  Schierbrand,  pp.  31,  32.  The  Tragedy  of 
Russia  in  Pacific  Asia,  by  Frederick  McCormick,  vol.  1, 
p.  9. 


MUKDEN  41 

American  poet,  in  his  "Wanderlust,"  may 
chance  to  see  this  lone  Kussian  at  this  Japa- 
nese garrison  city,  "Whence  all  but  him  had 
fled,"  and  be  inspired  to  indite  at  least  a 
few  lines  of  his  forthcoming  immortal  epic, 
to  "A  Russian  in  Port  Arthur"  ? 

The  Japanese  railway  hotels  were  well 
managed  and  provided  good  accommoda- 
tion and  excellent  food.  Whether  at  Port 
Arthur,  Dalny,  or  Kuan  Ch'e'ng-tze,  all  these 
hotels  have  the  same  name,  Yamoto,  like  the 
popular  Astor  House,  for  there  is  an  aris- 
tocratic Astor  House  in  the  Chinese  cities 
of  Shanghai,  Hankow,  and  Tientsin,  as  well 
as  downtown  New  York. 

The  toilsome  climb  up  and  over  the  fiercely 
contested  203  Meter  Hill  well  repaid  our 
exertion.  Delightful  also  was  the  carriage 
ride  over  the  winding  macadamized  road  up 
the  central  mountain,  from  which  we  ob- 
tained a  comprehensive  survey  of  this  ex- 
tensive battlefield  and  the  land-locked  har- 
bor below.  On  its  summit  the  Japanese  were 
erecting  a  magnificent  monument  to  com- 
memorate their  victory.  In  architectural 
beauty  it  far  excels  the  Bunker  Hill  Monu- 
ment at  Boston,  and  rivals  the  famed  Wal- 
halla  at  Ratisbon. 

Up  the  river  valley  was  the  Russian  ceme- 
tery, marking  a  greater  victory  than  that  of 
203  Meter  Hill.  It  tells  a  magnanimity  un- 
dreamed of  even  bv  Christian  nations.  The 


42  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

Japanese  had  collected  the  decaying  bodies 
of  their  fallen  foes,  given  them  an  honorable 
burial,  and  then  erected  a  handsome  granite 
monument  amid  a  forest  of  tombstones  and 
iron  double  crosses  of  the  Russian-Greek 
Church.  On  the  day  of  dedication,  by  in- 
vitation of  the  Japanese  authorities,  the 
Greek  patriarch  of  Peking,  with  his  acolytes 
and  the  surviving  Russian  military  officials 
from  Vladivostok,  Harbin,  and  other  acces- 
sible posts,  assembled  with  Admiral  Togo 
and  other  high  Japanese  victors,  to  conse- 
crate this  "God's  Acre."  Side  by  side,  friend 
and  foe  mounted  the  pedestal  and  placed 
wreaths  to  the  memory  of  the  conquered 
slain.  This  deed  cost  the  Japanese  some 
50,000  yen,  but  it  gained  for  them  the 
amazed  admiration  of  the  world.  The 
Museum,  which  contained  various  war  tro- 
phies and  miniature  raised  models  of  forts 
before  and  after  the  famous  siege,  enables 
the  lay  visitor  to  understand  how  even  elec- 
trified barbed  wires  and  intrenched  bastions 
were  as  a  child's  sand-pile  before  modern 
improved  weapons.  Through  the  courtesy 
of  a  Japanese  naval  officer,  we  were  granted 
a  permit  to  ride  in  a  Japanese  sampan 
around  the  inner  harbor  and  out  through 
the  narrow,  fortified  straits  into  the  open 
ocean  beyond,  where  we  watched  clivers,  en- 
cased in  their  strange  uniform,  bringing  up 
relics  from  the  sunken  Russian  battleships. 


MUKDEN  43 

On  our  way  back  five  Japanese  torpedo-boat 
destroyers,  with  flags  flying  and  whistles 
shrieking,  shot  past  us  on  their  arrowy  flight 
toward  the  horizon. 

The  Asiatic  Armageddon 

At  Mukden  the  second  story  of  Dr.  Chris- 
tie's well-known  hospital  affords  an  exten- 
sive view  of  the  battlefield.  This  beloved 
physician,  who  was  an  eyewitness  of  the 
conflict,  pointed  out  to  us  that  particular 
part  which  was  alternately  eight  different 
times  in  the  possession  of  Russians  and 
Japanese.  Mukden  well  deserves  a  visit. 
The  massive  walls  of  the  city,  resembling 
those  of  Peking,  inclose  the  Imperial  Palace, 
with  its  choice  treasures  and  noted  library. 
Let  Miss  Wright,  one  of  the  few  who  have 
recently  inspected  its  interior,  describe  it 
for  us: 

"Last  year  the  empress-dowager  herself 
had  planned  to  visit  this  ancient  capital  of 
her  forefathers.  A  great  clearing  and  re- 
building and  a  flood  of  vermilion  lacquer 
followed  this  vaguely  expressed  wish — and 
then  the  empress  died. 

"But  the  old  palaces  which  she  was  to 
have  occupied  have  been  rescued  from  ruin, 
and  their  lovely  grace  and  brightness  give 
delight  to  the  few  who  chance  to  visit  them. 
This  glowing  group  of  red  and  gold  and 
royal  yellow  lies  in  the  heart  of  Mukden. 


44  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

They  are  not  palaces  as  we  know  them,  but 
low,  single-storied  buildings,  with  beautiful 
straight  beams  and  curling  eaves,  suggesting 
and  probably  copied  from  the  ancient  Tartar 
tents. 

"Behind  these  fragile  lacquered  walls  is 
hidden  an  untold  wealth  of  treasure,  the 
sacking  of  which  was  so  feared  by  the  Chi- 
nese that  they  brought  their  war  with  Japan 
to  a  halt.  There  was  a  great  unbolting  and 
unlocking  of  the  red  doors,  and  a  tearing 
away  of  absurd  paper  seals,  before  we  could 
gain  admittance,  two  soldiers,  with  bayonets 
fixed,  standing  meanwhile  by  our  sides. 

"Treasure  after  treasure,  endlessly  wrapped 
and  packed  with  little  papers  of  camphor, 
was  placed  for  a  moment  for  inspection  on 
a  sort  of  yellow  lacquer  counter.  Golden 
helmets,  ruby-set  and  sapphire-starred,  royal 
coats  of  yellow  satin,  embroidered  solidly  in 
seed  pearls,  daggers  with  diamond  hilts, 
priceless  kakemonos,  painted  by  China's 
greatest  artists,  and  others  painted  with  a 
needle  cunning  as  a  brush — all  these  things, 
and  many  others,  were  shown  us  in  this  tem- 
ple storehouse,  piled  to  the  eaves  with  cabi- 
nets and  boxes. 

"We  walked  at  last  out  of  that  cold,  dim 
treasure-house  into  the  court,  full  of  melt- 
ing snow  and  blinding  sunlight,  and  across 
it  into  the  audience  chamber,  where  that 
audacious,  ivory-colored,  paint-enameled 


MUKDEN  45 

Manchu  princess  had  meant  to  hold  her 
court.  It  was  dark  as  we  stepped  in  from 
the  dazzling  light,  but  full  of  the  gleam  of 
gold — eaves  gold,  walls  gold,  and  in  the 
center  of  the  room  a  raised  and  canopied 
dais.  On  this,  before  a  monstrous  screen, 
stood  the  throne — a  giant's  chair  of  gleam- 
ing old-gold  lacquer,  a  deep  shining  seat, 
smooth  as  a  mirror,  wide  enough  and  deep 
enough  to  seat  three  men — a  royal,  five- 
clawed  dragon  rampant  on  arms  and  back. 

"The  whole  chamber  was  carpeted  with 
a  thick  and  brilliant  rug  of  royal  yellow, 
and  this  yellow,  newly  laid,  and  newly  woven 
tapestry,  was  covered  inch-deep  with  the 
dust  and  dirt  of  months — feathers,  broken 
birds'  nests,  bits  of  earth;  and  as  we  looked 
in  amazement  we  heard  a  stir  and  move- 
ment above  our  heads,  where  amid  the 
golden  eaves  the  fowls  of  the  air  were  nest- 
ing unmolested. 

"We  followed  our  guide  into  the  gloom 
and  deathlike  chill  of  still  another  wonder- 
house,  and  paused  on  the  threshold  in  amaze- 
ment. The  place  was  lined  with  cabinets 
and  shelves,  and  there,  row  on  row,  piled  and 
stacked,  was  an  array  of  imperial  porcelains, 
each  bit  a  fortune  in  itself;  bowls  and  basins 
and  vases  of  matchless  'blue  and  white,' 
ginger-jars  with  lovely  plum  pattern,  clear 
white  with  rich  blue  medallions,  curious  old 
vases  of  Persian  blue — form  and  pattern  Per- 


46  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

sian — plain  blue  and  'powder  blue.'  There 
they  stood,  great  toppling  columns  of  them 
— rice-bowls,  tea-bowls,  ordinary  vessels  of 
everyday  use,  cast,  as  it  were,  in  gold,  and 
piled  as  unconcernedly  as  crockery  bought 
by  the  ton. 

''One  end  of  the  room  was  packed  in  yel- 
low— rice-bowls,  soup-basins,  tiny  sam-shui 
cups,  frail  as  eggshell,  piled  by  the  dozens, 
or  hundreds,  rather;  the  pure  undecorated 
royal  yellow,  half  mustard,  half  canary,  with 
the  imperial  dragon  swimming  beneath  the 
glaze. 

"There  were  big  vases  of  a  glistening 
bronze,  of  swelling  and  perfect  proportions, 
with  iridescent  gleams  of  flame  and  peacock 
green,  dim  and  drowning.  There  were  others 
of  sea-green,  of  a  pure  and  delicate  wash : 
others  again  pale  blue,  the  very  ghost  of  a 
summer's  sky,  with  outlines  simple  and 
demure.  One's  fingers  itched  for  the  feel  of 
them,  the  sliding  surface  and  the  satisfying 
shape.  There  were  gourdlike  vases  running 
through  every  tone  of  purple  and  thick 
brown,  and  ending  in  petunia  and  amethyst 
and  rose.  There  were  scores  of  deep  cream 
pieces,  and  biscuit  boldly  crackled.  There 
were  vases  black  as  night  and  glossy;  famillc 
vertc,  in  pairs,  with  handles  and  quaint  deco- 
rations, each  color  distinct  and  pure. 

"We  found  four  shelves  of  precious  'peach- 
blow' — slender  little  vases,  identical  in  form, 


MUKDEN  47 

some  placid  and  perfect  peach,  some  a  trifle 
pale,  others  ruddy,  but  all  of  the  surface  of 
satin  and  without  a  flaw.  There  were  thirty 
in  the  group,  a  common  sisterhood,  doubtless 
of  one  firing,  and  probably  akin  to  the 
'peach-blow'  in  the  'Walters'  collection,  iden- 
tical as  it  is  in  shape  and  color.  On  another 
shelf  were  as  many  little  'peach-blow'  boxes, 
varying  as  a  flame  varies  in  tone  and  inten- 
sity. 

"Above  was  another  room,  crowded  as 
that  below.  More  'blue  and  white,'  some 
wondrous  sang  de  bcenf,  pulsing,  throbbing 
tones,  red  and  thick  as  blood-clots.  On  the 
same  shelf  stood  a  pair  of  vases  of  greenish- 
blue,  with  a  glaze  brilliant  as  enamel,  and 
crushed  into  it  a  warm  fawn-color,  like  a 
turquoise  matrix,  mixed  and  melted.  Hun- 
dreds of  bowls  again  of  dazzling  white,  thin 
and  exquisite,  each  piece  with  the  clear 
chime  of  a  bell — rice-bowls,  winecups,  tea- 
bowls,  fish-bowls,  'apple-green'  this  time,  the 
royal  dragon  sprawling  round  the  brim  half 
smothered  in  the  paste,  and  so  it  went. 

"Finally,  we  dragged  ourselves  away,  out 
again  into  the  dazzle  of  the  snow  and  the 
bold  blue  sky,  and  faced  once  more  those 
amazing  dwellings  of  vermilion  lacquer. 

''What  was  the  sum  of  it  all?  It  made 
one  pause  and  consider.  A  race  that  can 
think  in  such  fearless,  fundamental  colors, 
without  fuss  or  futile  decoration.  And  one 


48  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

sees  this  legend  repeated  again  and  again  on 
every  side,  in  the  hard  enduring  things  of 
stone,  the  blunt  monoliths,  the  time-serving 
tortoise,  every  symbol  of  the  land  pointing 
alike  to  fundamental,  enduring  things — 
patience,  labor,  discrimination.  This  cha- 
otic, inchoate,  centuries-old  China — what  is 
the  meaning  of  it  all  ?  It  is  a  thing  to  make 
one  think,  to  think  mightily,  and  to  think 
again."1 

A  few  miles  outside  the  city  lie  the  Im- 
perial Tombs,  spared  by  both  Russian  and 
Japanese  foes  from '  desecration  at  the  pa- 
thetic plea  of  China. 

The  railway  between  Mukden  and  Antung, 
on  the  border  of  Korea,  has  long  been  a  bone 
of  contention  between  .China  and  Japan. 
The  Japanese  by  diplomatic  pressure  have 
forced  China  to  grant  them  the  right  to 
change  the  present  narrow  gauge  to  a  broad, 
and  also  to  allow  Japan  to  station  her 
soldiers  and  build  barracks  at  frequent  in- 
tervals along  the  line.  To-day  Japan  has 
two  lines  of  railway  in  Manchuria,  one  from 
Port  Arthur  and  the  other  from  the  border 
of  Korea,  both  converging  at  Mukden  and 
proceeding  northward,  as  one  trunk  line,  to 
Kuan-Ch'£ng-tze,  south  of  Harbin. 

At  Mukden  it  was  a  delight  to  us,  Ameri- 
cans, to  board  an  American-built  Pullman, 

1  The  Color  of  Mukden,  by  Elizabeth  Washburn 
Wright,  In  The  Atlantic  Monthly,  February,  1910,  pp. 
242244. 


MUKDEN  49 

which  had  painted  on  the  outside  in  English, 
';  Sleeping  Car,"  and  to  ride  far  out  upon 
these  prairies,  so  recently  the  seat  of  war, 
with  the  same  facilities  of  modern,  luxurious 
travel  as  at  home. 

Policy  of  Russians  and  Japanese 

The  large,  solid  stone  and  brick  railway 
stations  and  barracks  along  the  Japanese 
and  Russian  railway  lines  throughout  Man- 
churia indicates  that  both  these  aggressive 
nations  have  come  into  Manchuria  to  stay. 
The  proposed  conference  of  M.  Kokovsto, 
the  Russian  Minister  of  Finance,  with 
Prince  Ito,  of  Japan,  on  October  26,  1009,  at 
Harbin,  resulting  in  the  latter's  assassina- 
tion, as  he  alighted  from  the  train  there,  in- 
dicates to  any  intelligent  observer  the  overt, 
concerted  attempt  on  the  part  of  these  two 
empires  to  act  unitedly  in  grasping  and  hold- 
ing this  valuable  Manchurian  territory,  ut- 
terly regardless  of  helpless  China  and  in 
defiance  of  the  "open  door,"  promised  and 
guaranteed  in  the  Portsmouth  Treaty. 

Hunghutze-Hobgoblin 

The  Japanese  and  Russian  guards  have 
been  appreciably  increased  on  account  of 
the  bugbear,  "Hunghutze"  (literally,  "Red 
Beards").  By  reiterated  sensational  dis- 
patches from  Manchuria  many  readily  be- 
lieve what  Count  Vay  de  Vaya  wrote  to  the 


50  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

Revue  des  Deux  Mondes:  "Of  all  these  ma- 
rauders, the  Hunghutzes  are  the  most  ter- 
rible. They  form  a  body  of  men,  more  or  less 
organized,  like  the  Italian  brigands  of  old 
times,  and  this  band  resembles  the  Sicilian 
Mafia  in  the  extent  of  its  influence."  Fred- 
erick McCormick,  from  personal  observation, 
flatly  denies  these  rumors  so  assiduously 
disseminated.  He  says:  "The  Russians  from 
the  first  made  much  of  the  Hunghutze,  no 
doubt  largely  because  it  was  the  fruitful  ma- 
terial of  which  were  fabricated  political 
arguments  for  the  continual  occupation  of 
Manchuria,  and  because  they  furnished  the 
excuse  for  military  exploits  to  gain  decora- 
tions and  military  distinction.  In  eighteen 
months  of  continuous  riding  alone  in  the 
theater  of  war,  in  the  rear  and  on  the  flanks 
of  the  Russian,  army,  through  the  lines,  as 
well  as  around  the  lines  in  the  so-called 
Hunghutze  country,  on  the  borders  of  Mon- 
golia, I  never  saw  a  Hunghutze,  nor  did  I 
ever  meet  with  any  Chinese  who  had  them- 
selves seen  any  or  knew  where  any  were, 
except  such  Chinese  as  were  in  the  service 
of  the  Russian  or  Japanese  army."1  From 
these  statements  one  may  judge  for  himself 
as  to  the  reality  of  the  Hunghutze  scare. 

1  The    Tragedy    of    Russia    in    Pacific    Asia,    by    Fred- 
erick  McCormick,   vol.    ii,   pp.   346  and   348. 


CHAPTER  VI 
HARBIN 

"In  order  to  suppress  the  insolence  of  certain 
scoundrels  [that  is,  Russians]  who  cross  the 
frontier  to  hunt,  plunder,  and  kill,  and  who  give 
rise  to  much  trouble  and  disturbance;  to  determine 
clearly  and  distinctly  the  boundaries  between  the 
empires  of  China  and  Russia;  and,  lastly,  to  re- 
establish peace  and  good  understanding  for  the 
future,  the  following  articles  are  by  mutual  con- 
sent agreed  upon." 

Chinese  preamble  to  the  first  treaty  with  Russia, 
at  Nerchinsk,  August  27,  1689,  when  in  the  pres- 
ence of  1,500  Chinese  soldiers,  and  some  10,000 
Chinese  servants,  retainers,  and  camp-followers, 
Russia  relinquished  territory  which  she  had 
already  occupied. — Alexis  Krause,  Russia  in  Asia, 
f>p.  40,  41- 

On  to  Harbin 

OUR  refreshing  night's  rest  in  the  luxuri- 
ous Pullman — reminder  of  the  homeland — 
was  rudely  broken  by  our  arrival  at  Kuan- 
Ch'eng-tze  at  5  A.  M.  Here  we  had  to  leave 
the  Japanese  train  and  travel  one  hundred 
and  seventy  miles  further  on  a  branch  line 
under  Russian  management.  Forced  absti- 
nence on  a  bitter  cold  morning,  and  dirty, 
discarded  railway  equipment,  did  not  pro- 
duce the  most  pleasant  experience  on  our 
overland  journey.  Still,  we  could  obtain  hot 
51 


52  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

water  suitable  for  drinking,  and,  as  we 
looked  out  of  our  car  windows  over  these 
broad,  fertile  prairies,  the  real  reason  why 
Russians  and  Japanese  coveted  this  vast, 
rich  territory  was  quite  apparent.  Neither 
of  these  world-powers  has  any  intention  of 
letting  go  its  hold,  unless  par  force  ma- 
jeure,  as  at  the  close  of  the  Spanish-Ameri- 
can War  the  Spanish  Treaty  plenipoten- 
tiaries, with  reluctant  hauteur,  avowed  was 
their  compelling  motive  when  they  had  to 
sign  the  Treaty  of  Paris,  by  which  Cuba, 
Porto  Rico,  and  the  Philippines  slipped  out 
of  their  hands. 

On  Saturday,  at  3  p.  MV  this  slow,  jerky 
train  of  antiquated,  unswept,  and  undusted 
Russian  cars  arrived  at  Harbin.  We  re- 
mained there  a  couple  of  days,  seeing  the 
strange  sights. 

Geography  from  a  Chinese  Viewpoint 

So,  at  last,  here  we  were  at  the  noted  and 
notorious  city  of  Harbin.  About  a  year 
previous  we  had  met  a  Chinaman  who  in- 
sisted that  Harbin  was  in  America.  This 
happened  when  we  were  taking  our  noonday 
rest  in  a  small  village  en  route  to  a  pic- 
turesque hamlet  perched  in  the  mountains 
of  Mongolia,  a  day's  ride  by  mulecart  north 
of  the  Great  Wall.  Seeing  a  Chinaman 
strolling  in  the  inn  court,  we  accosted  him. 
After  the  customary  inquiries  as  to  one's 


HARBIN  53 

honorable  country,  worthy  surname,  and  re- 
spectable age  had  been  asked  and  answered, 
to  make  conversation,  we  ventured  to  ask 
him  whether  he  had  ever  been  in  America. 
With  beaming  face  and  an  air  of  compla- 
cency he  replied,  "Yes!"  We  inquired  in 
what  part.  Imagine  our  surprise  when  he 
answered,  "Hah-er-been,"  which  is  Chinese 
for  Harbin.  We  tried  to  explain  that  Har- 
bin was  not  in  America,  but,  although  many 
foreigners  lived  there,  was  in  Manchuria. 
A  look  of  injured  innocence  came  over  his 
face,  as,  pointing  to  my  Panama,  he  pertly 
retorted,  "But  the  foreigners  there  wear  the 
same  kind  of  hat  that  you  have  on,"  and  he 
went  away  sorrowful,  for  he  had  great 
prepossessions. 

Migration 

Hundreds  and  thousands  of  Chinese  pass 
every  year  from  China  into  Manchuria  in 
the  early  spring  and  many  return  before 
Chinese  New  Year.  Some  days  they  seemed 
a  never-ending  stream.  Their  migrations 
north  and  south  are  as  regular  as  the  flocks 
of  wild  geese  and  ducks  overhead.  The  Im- 
perial Railways  of  North  China  make  an 
especially  low  rate  for  a  through  train  from 
a  station  near  Tientsin  to  Mukden,  while 
the  steamship  companies  carry  thousands 
more,  at  reduced  rates,  from  the  northern 
ports  of  Shantung  province. 


54  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

In  rapidity  of  growth  Harbin  resembles 
many  an  American  city  in  the  West.  In 
1897  two  Russians  rode  into  the  place  and 
camped  on  the  open  prairie.  Now  the  popu- 
lation numbers  some  80,000.  Through  this 
gateway,  during  the  Eussian-Japanese  war, 
passed* more  than  1,000,000  of  the  Tsar's 
soldiery  and  250,000  horses.  Harbin  is  a 
triple  city,  formed  of  the  new  Russian  city, 
extending  east  of  the  mammoth  railway  sta- 
tion, Pristan  or  the  old  riverine  town,  along 
the  banks  of  the  Sungari,  and  Chinatown 
at  the  north. 

Hotel 

A  couple  of  droskies  soon  conveyed  us 
and  our  baggage  to  the  Grand  Hotel,  diag- 
onally opposite  the  station.  Here  we  were 
shown  a  good-sized,  comfortably  furnished 
front  room.  A  placard  on  the  wall  stated 
in  parallel  columns  in  Russian,  English, 
German,  and  French  languages  the  tariff 
of  the  room,  and  also  a  list  of  extras  with 
fixed  prices  attached,  as,  for  instance:  The 
use  of  a  towel  was  15  kopeks  (7£  cents 
United  States  gold)  ;  the  use  of  a  pillow-case 
was  20  kopeks  (10  cents  United  States 
gold) ;  the  use  of  a  sheet  was  20  kopeks  (10 
cents  United  States  gold)  ;  a  candle  was  20 
kopeks  (10  cents  United  States  gold)  ;  a 
piece  of  soap  was  40  kopeks  (20  cents  United 
States  gold) ;  the  use  of  a  bathtub  was  1 


HARBIN  55 

ruble  (50  cents  United  States  gold).  As  we 
were  not  provided  with  a  linen  chest,  we 
hired  toilet  necessities,  so  that  the  entire 
charge  for  our  room  was  5.50  rubles  ($2.75 
(United  States  gold)  a  day.  Food  was  extra. 
In  the  dining  room  the  bill  of  fare  was 
printed  in  Russian  and  French.  This  official 
price  list  does  not  always  protect  the  trav- 
eler. At  one  hotel,  the  porter  rushed  ahead 
and  raised  the  rate.  Tiffin,  or  luncheon, 
costing  one  ruble,  consisted  of  excellent 
soup,  boiled  meat  with  rice,  quail  on  toast, 
with  cranberry  sauce,  and  Italian  cream, 
followed  by  a  dainty  cup  of  superior  cafe 
noir.  A  supper  which  we  took  a  la  carte 
consisted  of  juicy  beefsteak,  thoroughly 
cooked  French  fried  potatoes,  hot  string 
beans  covered  with  cream  sauce,  and 
glasses  (not  cups)  of  delicious,  piping  hot 
tea.  We  sipped  it  clear  and  also  a  la  Russe, 
with  lemon  and  cube  sugar.  After  supper 
we  were  invited  by  the  hotel  manager  to 
see  a  moving-picture  show  to  be  given  in  the 
dining  saloon  at  nine  o'clock.  This  we  de- 
clined with  thanks  on  account  of  being  fa- 
tigued from  our  journey.  Such  nocturnal 
entertainments,  accompanied  with  dancing 
and  carousing,  are  in  vogue  in  hotels  in 
Siberia.  Our  rooms  here  and  later  at  Tomsk 
were,  fortunately,  in  another  part  of  the 
hotel,  so  that  we  were  not  disturbed  by  such 
midnight  revelry. 


56  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

Money  Matters 

At  the  American  Consulate  we  learned 
that  Consul  Greene  had  recently  started 
home  on  furlough,  but  the  obliging  inter- 
preter, Mr.  Morton,  gave  us  useful  informa- 
tion and  personally  conducted  us  to  various 
places  of  interest.  One  was  to  the  large  de- 
partment store  of  Churin  &  Co.,  where  we 
invested  in  tins  of  American  Saint  Charles 
Cream  and  oranges.  Another  was  across 
the  Sungari  Kiver,  in  the  popular  Kitais- 
kaya,  or  "Chinese  Street,"  to  a  dealer  in 
photographic  materials,  where  we  purchased 
rolls  of  twelve  films  for  our  Bull's-Eye 
Kodak  at  1.90  ruble  each,  about  95  cents 
United  States  gold,  which  was  about  what 
we  would  pay  at  Tientsin. 

Ascending  the  broad,  main  street,  running 
opposite  the  railway  station,  the  visitor 
passes  many  of  the  finest  buildings  of  the 
city,  and  on  the  summit  comes  upon  the 
handsome,  new  Greek  church,  unusually 
light  and  airy  in  its  architecture.  In  this 
neighborhood  are  many  elegant  mansions 
and  large,  attractive  shops,  fronted  by  broad 
sidewalks  and  rows  of  shade  trees.  A  little 
nearer  the  station  stands  the  substantial 
Russo-China  Bank,  where  we  found  courte- 
ous and  prompt  attention.  It  is  a  significant 
coincidence  that  at  the  time  this  Rnsso-China 
Bank  was  established  to  finance  the  Russian 


HARBIN  57 

railway  through  Manchuria,  called  "The 
Chinese  Eastern  Railway,"  Baron  Hirsch- 
man  is  supposed  to  have  been  instrumental 
in  inducing  Wall  Street  to  invest  $50,000,- 
000  in  Russian  bonds.1  In  this  bank  Eng- 
lish and  German,  as  well  as  Russian,  were 
spoken.  High  up  on  a  narrow  gallery,  built 
above  the  huge  safe,  was  a  Russian  soldier, 
armed  cap-a-pie.  From  his  ammunition  belt 
protruded  revolvers,  and  he  carried  a  loaded 
rifle  as,  with  heavy  tread,  he  paced  to  and 
fro.  The  rugged  sturdiness  in  the  make-up 
of  this  minion  of  the  Tsar  impressed  the 
beholder  as  an  interesting  contrast  to  a 
similar  scene  away  off  in  Italy.  There,  dur- 
ing the  annual  Requiem  to  the  memory  of 
Victor  Emmanuel  in  Rome,  a  half  dozen 
handsomely  accoutered  Italian  soldiers, 
dressed  in  gay  uniforms  and  with  plumed 
helmets,  are  detailed  to  keep  guard  and 
stride  with  muffled  step  back  and  forth  high 
up  on  the  circular,  interior  gallery  of  the 
Pantheon. 

Our  observations,  however,  confirm  us  in 
the  belief  that,  if  the  occasion  should  arise, 
those  Italian  patriots,  fired  with  the  spirit 
of  Garibaldi,  would  give  as  good  an  account 
of  themselves  as  any  Russian  hireling. 
Years  ago  at  Vladivostok  an  incident,  illus- 
trative of  the  insensate  obedience  of  the 
Russian  soldiery,  occurred.  The  occasion 

1  Greater  Russia,  by  William  Oliver  Greener,  p.  246. 


58  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

was  the  military  parade  on  the  national 
festival  of  the  Tsar's  Name  Day.  The  troops 
were  drawn  up  with  military  precision.  To- 
ward the  close  of  the  drill,  champagne,  foam- 
ing in  glass  goblets,  was  served  to  groups  of 
officers  gathered  in  front  of  the  troops. 
While  this  was  being  quaffed  off  in  patriotic 
hilarity,  not  even  a  drop  of  vodka  moistened 
the  parched  throats  of  the  rank  and  file.  To 
them  the  command  was  given  to  hurrah  for 
the  "Tsar  of  all  the  Russias."  "Hark  from 
the  tombs  a  doleful  sound !"  Such  a  hoarse, 
heartless  shout  rent  the  air  that  to  this 
day  its  sepulchral  reverberations  keep  ring- 
ing in  our  ears.  Appalling,  indeed,  is  the 
present  status  of  the  Russian  army,  if  the 
revelations  of  Kuropatkin,  suppressed  by 
the  Russian  government,  be  true:  "Belief  in 
God,  devotion  to  the  Tsar,  love  of  the 
Fatherland  are  the  features  which  up  to 
now  .  .  .  made  the  mass  of  the  soldiers  fear- 
less and  obedient,  but  those  principles  have 
latterly  been  much  shaken  among  the  people, 
and  the  result  was,  of  course,  felt  in  the 
army."1 

Frisian 

In  Pristan  stands  the  large  Greek  church, 
Saint  Sophia,  conspicuous  and  imposing. 
A  Russian  priest,  the  Rev.  Bagdanoff,  to 

1  The  Russian  Army  and  the  Japanese  War,  by  Kuro- 
patkin,  vol.   i,   p.   296. 


HARBIN  59 

whom  Mr.  Turley,  agent  of  the  British  and 
Foreign  Bible  Society  at  Mukden,  had  given 
us  his  card  of  introduction,  kindly  showed 
us  the  objects  of  interest  in  the  sacred 
edifice.  Most  worthy  of  inspection  were 
three  handsome  oil  paintings,  in  whose  backs 
were  inserted  brass  plates,  inscribed  as  spe- 
cial gifts  blessed  by  the  high  ecclesiastics  of 
the  cities  of  Constantinople,  Kiev,  and  Old 
Novgorod.  These  cities  possess  older  and 
more  celebrated  Saint  Sophia  cathedrals, 
though  that  at  Constantinople  is  still  in  the 
hands  of  the  infidels.  One  very  large  paint- 
ing vividly  represented  the  historic  incident 
of  the  wholesale  baptisms  in  the  Dnieper 
near  Kiev,  when  Christianity  was  introduced 
into  Russia  in  988.  Great  was  the  excite- 
ment when  the  idols  were  overthrown  amid 
the  tears  and  fright  of  the  people.  Perum, 
the  favorite  idol,  whose  head  was  of  silver 
and  beard  of  gold,  was  thrown  into  the 
river  from  the  "Devil's  Leap,"  a  spot  still 
shown  to  visitors.  Rambaud  relates  how, 
"by  Vladimir's  order,  all  the  Kievans — men 
and  women,  masters  and  slaves,  old  people 
and  little  children — plunged  naked  into  the 
consecrated  waters  of  the  old  pagan  stream, 
while  the  Greek  priests,  standing  on  the 
bank,  read  the  baptismal  service."1 

Later,    riding  toward   the   banks   of   the 
Sungari,  we  made  our  way  through  streets 

1  History  of  Russia,  by  Rambaud,  vol.   I,   p.   80. 


60  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

on  each  side  of  which  were  numerous  flour 
mills  and  yards  inclosing  immense  piles  of 
merchandise,  such  as  timber,  coal,  and  sacks 
of  flour.  Along  the  wharves  were  stern- 
wheel  steamers,  like  those  plying  on  the  Ohio 
and  Orinoco  Rivers  in  America,  crammed 
full  of  passengers  and  freight,  about  ready 
to  start  for  ports  on  the  Sungari  and  Amur 
Rivers.  Putnam-Weale  states  that  "from 
the  flour  mills  at  Harbin,  Tsitsihar,  and 
Kirin  Provinces,  so  far  as  flour  is  concerned, 
sufficient  was  locally  available  to  feed  every 
Russian  soldier,  east  of  Lake  Baikal,  on  the 
day  peace  was  signed." 

On  the  broad,  frequented  avenues  our 
attention  was  attracted  to  a  prevailing  fash- 
ion :  when  a  man  and  woman  were  out  rid- 
ing together  in  a  drosky,  the  man  evinced 
his  eagerness  to  prevent  his  lady  from  falling 
out  by  firmly  encircling  her  waist  with  his 
protecting  arm.  Many  women  were  briskly 
promenading  the  streets  in  high-heeled  white 
slippers,  regardless  of  the  late  spring  or 
whether  the  rest  of  their  attire  harmonized 
with  this  ballroom  costume  or  not. 

Chinatown 

The  Chinese  city  of  Harbin  lies  more  than 
a  couple  of  miles  distant  from  the  Russian 
settlement.  We  took  a  short  cut  across  a 
long  meadow  to  it  and  hunted  for  a  Protes- 
tant church.  First,  we  were  directed  to  a 


HARBIN  61 

small  Roman  Catholic  chapel,  then  to  a 
Chinese  government  lecture  hall,  and  finally 
to  the  "Gospel  Hall,"  where  we  learned  that 
preaching  had  been  started  about  a  year  pre- 
vious by  a  British  missionary,  whose  Chi- 
nese name  was  Pi,  and  that  the  present  mem- 
bership was  about  thirty.  This  Chinese  part 
of  Harbin,  with  its  yamens,  temples,  shops, 
and  street  life,  looked  like  an  ordinary  Chi- 
nese town  bodily  transplanted  into  the  midst 
of  these  modern  European  surroundings. 
The  drosky-driver  whom  we  employed  on 
our  way  back  happened  to  be  a  Chinaman, 
and  seemed  happy  to  have  as  passengers 
those  who  had  come  from  the  Middle  King- 
dom and  could  converse  in  his  native  tongue. 


CHAPTER  VII 

ACROSS  MANCHURIA 

Railroad  iron  is  a  magician's  rod  in  its  power 
to  evoke  the  slumbering  energies  of  land  and 
water. — R.  W.  Emerson. 

Russia's  Real  Navy 

RUSSIA'S  Premier  "I)e  Witte  long  ago 
realized  that  in  a  land-locked  empire,  such 
as  Russia,  the  railway  locomotive  must  take 
the  place  of  the  ship  as  pioneer  of  national 
development.  What  Great  Britain  and  Ger- 
many had  gained  by  steamship  lines  Rus- 
sia must  attain  by  railways.  .  .  .  He  demon- 
strated that  a  continent  can  be  made  an 
accessible  highway,  as  any  ocean,  and  he 
showed  that  Russia's  real  navy  rests  not  on 
the  sea  but  on  many  parallel  lines  of  steel 
rails,  laid  down  with  scientific  accuracy  and 
strategic  intent."1 

The  Trans-Siberian  Railway 

The  present  Tsar,  Nicholas  II,  when  he 
was  Tsarevitch,  laid  the  first  stone  of  this 
greatest  transcontinental  railway  on  the 
globe  at  Vladivostok,  on  May  12,  1891.  Its 
original  cost  was  more  than  $390,000,000 
(United  States  gold),  and  its  annual  aver- 

1  To-morrow  in  the  East,  by  Robert  Story,  p.  233. 
62 


ACROSS  MANCHURIA  63 

age  maintenance  amounts  to  nearly  $25,000,- 
000.  The  railway  is  divided  into  sections  of 
one  verst  (about  two  thirds  of  a  mile), 
marked  by  a  neat  guardhouse,  where  the 
guard,  whose  duty  it  is  to  see  that  the  track 
is  in  good  order,  lives  with  his  family.  At 
heavy  curves,  additional  guards  are  sta- 
tioned. Between  Tomsk  and  the  Urals  there 
are  nearly  four  thousand  of  these.  There 
grew  to  be  a  certain  fascination  in  watch- 
ing for  these  little  homes  and  the  man,  or 
sometimes  the  woman,  standing,  flag  in 
hand,  near  the  doorstep  or  alongside  the 
track. 

During  the  Russo-Japanese  war,  Prince 
Khilkoff,  Minister  of  Ways  and  Communica- 
tions, had  personal  oversight  of  the  railway 
management,  with  his  headquarters  at 
Irkutsk.  His  apprenticeship  in  the  railway 
business  in  America  proved  of  inestimable 
value  at  that  critical  period.  Under  his 
direction,  innumerable  sidings  and  new  sta- 
tions were  speedily  provided,  enabling  the 
railway  to  transport  troops  and  material  so 
regularly  and  rapidly  as  to  astonish  the 
world.  So  efficiently  did  he  manage  his  diffi- 
cult task  that  after  the  war  he  was  highly 
honored  by  his  government. 

Villari  tells  how  on  one  occasion,  while 
inspecting  a  section  of  the  main  line,  where 
he  had  ordered  a  new  station  to  be  built,  he 
inquired  why  his  train  did  not  stop  there. 


64  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

"O!  your  Excellency,"  the  officials  replied, 
"we  passed  it  in  the  night."  Not  satisfied 
with  the  reply,  since  it  did  not  tally  with  his 
schedule,  he  gave  orders  for  his  inspection 
train  to  return  to  the  spot.  No  station  was 
visible.  The  feelings  of  those  officials  can 
be  better  imagined  than  described.  Suffice 
it  to  say  that  not  many  days  elapsed  before 
that  station  materialized. 

As  late  as  1880  Russia  had  no  railways  in 
Asia,  although  Great  Britain  had  nearly 
10,000  miles  of  iron  road  in  India. 

Express  Trains 

To-day  trains  run  daily  between  the 
Pacific  and  the  Urals.  Each  week  three  ex- 
press trains  go  each  way  between  Vladivo- 
stok and  the  old  and.  new  Russian  capitals, 
while  a  fourth  runs  between  Irkutsk  and 
Moscow.  These  three  expresses  include  one 
of  the  International  Wagons  Lits  and  two 
of  the  Imperial  Siberian  Express.  So  far 
as  our  observation  went,  the  Wagons  Lits 
trains  had  the  advantage  of  a  conductor 
who  could  speak  some  English,  German,  and 
French,  besides  Russian;  the  fares  were 
higher,  the  cars  were  usually  more  crowded, 
and  their  condition  in  regard  to  cleanliness 
would  have  given  a  New  England  housewife 
a  conniption  fit.  Doubtless,  as  soon  as  the 
attention  of  the  company  is  called  to  this 
untidy  state  of  affairs,  it  will  be  promptly 


ACROSS  MANCHURIA  65 

remedied.  We  well  remember  in  the  early 
days  of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Steamship 
Company,  how  hash,  disguised  as  "Pepper 
Pot,"  "Bubble  and  Squeak,"  and  other  mys- 
tic, euphonious  names,  were  frequent  dishes 
on  the  menu.  But  after  complaints  reached 
the  London  office,  a  director  was  dispatched 
personally  to  investigate,  with  the  result 
that  to-day  probably  no  better  table  is  to 
be  found  anywhere. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Imperial  State 
Express  had  the  advantage  of  the  same 
speed,  lower  rates,  a  conductor  who  could 
speak  German,  French,  and  Russian,  while 
the  cars  were  both  cleaner  and  less  crowded. 
Passengers,  first  and  second-class,  in  both 
expresses,  had  the  right  to  the  same  dining 
car.  Generally,  the  same  car  was  provided 
with  coupe's,  partly  first  and  partly  second- 
class.  A  corridor  or  passageway  extended 
along  one  side  of  the  car.  Overhead  in  this 
corridor  were  racks  for  baggage,  while  near 
the  windows  were  adjustable  seats  and 
tables. 

We  tried  a  second-class  compartment  on 
the  Imperial  State  Express  and  found  it  so 
comfortable  and  satisfactory  that  we  had  no 
desire  to  change  to  the  first.  The  fare, 
second-class  from  Harbin  to  Samara  on  the 
Volga,  was  77.85  rubles,  the  ticket  being 
valid  for  forty  days.  On  our  way  from  Har- 
bin to  Irkutsk,  and  also  from  Taiga  to  Sa- 


66  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

mara,  although  we  had  only  two  tickets,  we 
were  allowed  a  whole  section  to  ourselves. 
This  afforded  us  more  room  and  greater  pri- 
vacy than  usual  on  American  Pullmans,  since 
we  could  securely  fasten  the  door  on  the 
inside.  This  coupe"  had  two  upper  and  two 
lower  berths,  besides  a  double  row  of  racks 
on  each  side  for  baggage.  We  occupied  the 
two  lower  berths  and  so  had  an  abundance 
of  room.  The  ornamental  top  of  a  folding 
stepl adder  before  our  window  formed  a 
table,  upon  which  a  green-shaded  electric 
reading  lamp  was  placed  at  night.  Another 
bulb  overhead  illumined  the  room.  Electric 
buttons  near  the  door  brought  the  car  porter 
or  the  waiter  from  the  dining  car,  as  we 
might  desire. 

The  first-class  coupe"  differs  from  ours  in 
being  furnished  with  only  two  berths,  and 
in  having  a  strip  of  rarpet  on  the  floor,  while 
ours  had  matting. 

The  dining  car  was  fancifully  decorated 
with  real  and  artificial  flowers,  and  provided 
at  the  farther  end  with  a  piano.  Beyond 
this,  at  the  corner  of  the  car  near  the  roof, 
was  an  icon,  or  small  sacred  painting.  Like 
all  icons,  the  drapery  of  the  clothing  and 
the  halo  around  the  heads  of  the  Madonna 
and  Child  were  stamped  upon  a  bright,  me- 
tallic, gilt  and  silver  casing,  concealing  all 
the  rest  of  the  picture,  except  the  flesh  tints 
of  the  face  and  hands.  Every  orthodox  Rus- 


ACROSS  MANCHURIA  67 

sian,  on  entering,  would  first  reverently  face 
this  object  of  devotion  and  cross  himself  be- 
fore sitting  down  at  table  and  ordering  his 
meal.  The  cuisine  was  excellent,  although 
at  times  a  Russian  flavor  predominated. 
Still  we  could  procure  a  good  tiffin  of  four 
courses  for  1.25  ruble,  or  of  three  courses 
for  only  1  ruble.  A  sample  tiffin  of  four 
courses  consisted  of  (1)  Soup — Noodle  or 
Chicken,  (2)  Fish,  (3)  Roast  Veal,  with  Po- 
tatoes and  String  Beans,  (4)  Dessert,  con- 
sisting of  Ice  Cream  and  after-dinner  Coffee, 
served  in  hexagonal  glass  tumblers. 

Surely  no  epicure  ought  to  grumble  when 
a  plump,  toothsome  partridge,  cooked  to  a 
turn,  could  be  bought  for  75  kopeks,  or  about 
40  cents,  gold.  Some  British  travelers,  ad- 
dicted to  afternoon  tea,  advised  us  to  order 
hot  water  sent  to  our  compartment  and 
there  brew  our  own  tea.  But  we  preferred 
a  change  of  scene  and  would  take  our  tea  in 
Russian  style  in  the  dining  car.  One  glass 
of  hot  tea — and  Russians  and  Chinese  of  all 
peoples  know  how  to  brew  it — and  a  couple 
of  pieces  of  zwieback  cost  10  cents,  Ameri- 
can currency — not  a  very  extravagant  charge 
for  this  afternoon  refreshment. 

The  measured  movements  of  these  Rus- 
sian express  trains  remind  one  of  the  camel, 
which  for  ages  used  to  traverse  these  inter- 
minable wildernesses.  Never  do  they  deign 
to  start  like  a  thoroughbred  on  the  instant 


68  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

the  signal  is  given.  Rather,  grunting  like 
a  patient  camel,  they  only  begin  to  move 
after  three  distinct  actions,  similar  to  the 
jerky  opening  of  the  blades  of  a  jackknife, 
reminding  one  of  how  first  the  camel  rises 
on  its  knees,  then  straightens  its  hind  legs, 
and  finally  its  front  ones. 

Usually,  the  train  stops  twenty  minutes 
at  stations.  This  affords  plenty  of  time  to 
stroll  up  and  down  the  platform  and  see  the 
unusual  sights,  especially  of  humanity — 
men  and  women,  boys  and  girls,  Buriats, 
Mongols,  Vitim  gold-diggers,  Altai  miners, 
Russian  immigrants,  and  Siberian  settlers, 
not  to  mention  our  fellow  travelers  from  the 
four  corners  of  the  world. 

Russian  Paternalism 

At  all  important  stations,  a  Russian  sign, 
"Keep-a-tok,"  meaning  "boiling  water,"  was 
visible,  indicating  that  boiling-hot  water 
could  be  obtained  there  gratis  by  simply 
turning  the  brass  faucet.  This  was  provided 
by  the  government  chiefly  for  immigrants, 
as  were  also  booths  at  one  end  of  the  long 
platforms,  where  provisions,  such  as  bread, 
eggs,  vegetables,  and  fruit,  were  for  sale  at 
low  rates.  Never  tiresome  and  always  pic- 
turesque was  the  sight  of  the  rows  of 
quaintly  attired  peasants,  offering  for  sale 
huge  loaves  of  black  bread  and  bottles  of 
fresh  milk.  The  cheap  prices  were  fixed  by 


ACROSS  MANCHURIA  69 

governmental  tariff,  not  yet  affected  by  any 
Milk  Trust. 

Travelers,  first  and  second-class,  could 
purchase  a  finer  grade  of  provisions  at 
higher  prices  in  the  railway  restaurants. 
For  a  few  kopeks  they  could  also  procure 
hot  water,  steaming  and  hissing  from  the 
brightly  polished  brass  samovar,  unfailingly 
adorning  the  counter. 

Along  some  lines  the  Russian  government 
exhibits  a  paternal  solicitude  over  its  chil- 
dren. Patent  medicines,  for  instance,  which 
have  wrought  such  havoc  in  America,  are 
not  allowed  to  be  sold  to  the  Russian  people 
without  the  authorization  of  a  physician. 
One  summer  at  Vladivostok  our  bedroom 
was  overrun  with  rats,  and  chancing  to  see 
the  American  remedy  "Rough  on  Rats"  for 
sale  in  a  store,  we  asked  the  clerk  for  a  pack- 
age. To  our  surprise  we  were  informed  that 
we  could  not  buy  any  until  we  had  first  pro- 
cured a  physician's  certificate. 

How  much  happier  would  the  Russian 
people  be  to-day  if  this  same  paternal  so- 
licitude had  been  exercised  in  regard  to 
vodka!  Vodka  is  a  government  monopoly. 
Steadily  this  seething  mass  of  ignorant, 
downtrodden  humanity  is  being  over- 
whelmed by  the  alcohol  habit,  fostered  by 
the  government. 

Von  Schierbrand  says,  "One  per  cent  of 
the  net  returns  from  the  sale  of  all  alcoholic 


70  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

liquors  is  being  devoted  by  the  Finance  Min- 
ister to  promote  the  temperance  move- 
ment!"1 Such  incongruity  equals  that  of  a 
certain  Sunday  school  scholar  at  a  Brooklyn 
Christmas  entertainment,  when  we  were  boys. 
This  temporary  scholar,  hailing  from  Jack- 
son Hollow,  was  an  undersized  youth  of 
sallow,  shriveled  features.  Attracted  to  a 
group  of  us  boys,  who  were  eagerly  compar- 
ing notes  about  our  Christmas  presents,  he 
exultingly  interjected  the  remark,  ''My 
father  gave  me  a  box  of  cigars  for  my  Christ- 
mas." Instantly  he  checked  himself,  as  the 
thought  shot  across  his  mind  that  tobacco- 
smoking  was  usually  tabooed  in  a  Sunday 
school,  and  hastily  finished  his  sentence  with, 
"if  I  would  not  smoke."  And  this  saying 
of  his  has  been  current  among  us  to  the 
present  day.  Von  Schierbrand  further 
states  that,  "as  far  as  statistics  go,  every 
budget,  since  the  introduction  of  the  gov- 
ernment monopoly,  shows  a  rapidly  increas- 
ing sale  of  spirits,  and  for  the  last  year  the 
excess  of  such  sales  over  the  figures  of  ten 
years  ago  is  fully  thirty  per  cent."  In  1009 
Russia  received  from  her  revenue  in  intoxi- 
cating liquors  $275,000,000 — enough  to  pay 
the  cost  of  her  army  and  navy.2 

McCormick,  who  accompanied  the  Russian 

1  Russia,    Her   Strength    and   Weakness,    by   Wolf   von 
Schierbrand,  pp.  235,  236. 

2  Northwestern     Christian     Advocate,     September     14, 
1910,  p.  1162. 


ACROSS  MANCHURIA  71 

Grand  Ariny  during  the  disastrous  Man- 
churian  campaign,  observes:  "The  Russian 
physician's  first  inquiry  in  case  of  accident 
was,  'Was  he  drunk?'  On  one  occasion  a 
man  was  describing  to  a  surgeon  in  charge 
of  an  imperial  hospital  the  actions  of  an 
artillery  officer  in  the  last  stages  of  exhaus- 
tion from  fighting  during  the  battle  of  Muk- 
den, and  from  the  work  of  saving  his  battery 
in  the  flight  from  Tieh-Ling.  But  the 
tragedy  of  the  incident  was  entirely  lost  on 
the  surgeon.  As  the  narrator  concluded  he 
simply  asked,  'Was  he  drunk?'"1  Whole- 
sale debauching  a  people  for  revenue  may  be 
a  phase  of  paternalism  in  the  Russian  sense, 
but  we  far  prefer  the  American  right  to  cast 
our  votes  for  local  option. 

i  The  Tragedy  of  Russia,  by  Frederick  McCormick,  vol. 
ii,  p.   281. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

KlNG-AN   AND    GENGHIS  KHAX 

'O  TWV  5pwv  ?p«s  dploros. — "The  love  of  mountains 
is  best."  In  those  fine  words  some  Swiss  professor 
anticipated  the  doctrine  of  Ruskin  and  the  creed 
of  Leslie  Stephen,  and  of  all  men  who  had  found 
mountains  the  best  companions  in  the  vicissitudes 
of  life.  In  the  annals  of  art  it  would  be  easy  to 
find  additional  proof  of  the  attention  paid  by  men 
to  mountains,  three  or  four  hundred  years  ago. 
The  late  Josiah  Gilbert,  in  a  charming  but  too 
little  known  volume,  Landscape  in  Art,  has  shown 
how  many  great  painters  depict  in  their  back- 
grounds their  native  hills.  Titian  is  the  most 
conspicuous  example. — D.  W.  Freshfield.  President 
of  the  Geographical  Society  of  the  British  Asso- 
ciation. 

Alpine  Regions 

TOWARD  evening  of  the  first  day  out  from 
Harbin,  the  air  becomes  perceptibly  cooler. 
Before  long  we  leave  the  broad  Manchurian 
prairies,  so  like  the  immense  wheatfields  of 
Minnesota  and  the  Dakotas.  An  extra  en- 
gine helps  to  pull  the  train  up  the  steep 
grades  of  the  King-an  Mountains,  reported 
to  be  the  coldest  spot  of  like  latitude  on 
the  globe.  According  to  one  account,  the 
mercury  sometimes  falls  to  seventy-one  de- 
grees  below  zero,  Fahrenheit.1 

1  Greater  Russia,  by  William  Oliver  Greener,  p.  S6. 
72 


KING-AN  AND  GENGHIS  KHAN        73 

The  flora  here  and  also  on  the  elevated 
plateaus  of  Mongolia  above  Kalgan  is  Al- 
pine. Vast  areas  on  the  plateaus  above 
Kalgan  can  be  seen  to-day  white  with  the 
edelweiss.  Specimens  of  this  Alpine  favorite 
were  once  sent  to  Oberlin  College,  Ohio,  for 
careful  examination,  and  were  pronounced 
to  be  the  real  edelweiss,  now  so  rare  and 
prized  in  the  high  latitudes  of  Switzerland, 
where,  on  the  border  line,  snow  and  ice  con- 
tend in  a  life-and-death  struggle  with  the 
flora  of  the  temperate  zone. 

Genghis  Khan 

Before  reaching  those  higher  altitudes  the 
twin  engines  keep  puffing  and  tugging  in 
their  winding  way  around  the  grotesque  foot- 
hills and  up  the  steep  grades  of  the  moun- 
tainsides. Tschingis  Chan  is  the  name  of 
the  station  we  are  passing.  We  are  startled, 
for  we  learn  that  this  is  the  equivalent  of 
the  Russian  name  for  Genghis  Khan.  Can 
it  be  really  true  that  we  are  near  the  birth- 
place of  this  renowned  conqueror? 

Luridly  flash  before  our  vision  the  strange, 
stirring  scenes  enacted  here,  when  vast 
hordes  of  uncouth  nomads  roamed  at  will 
over  these  spacious  Siberian  steppes.  At 
the  appointed  time  arose  Genghis  Khan. 
His  military  genius  united  these  multitu- 
dinous warring  tribes  into  one  compact  mass. 
These  loyal,  reckless  barbarians  were  eager 


74  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

to  follow  their  doughty  chieftain  across  the 
Urals  and  to  combat  savage  Scythians  or 
any  other  forces  rash  enough  to  oppose  their 
onward,  overwhelming  onslaughts. 

Genghis5  Khan,  later  succeeded  by  Tamer- 
lane and  the  Golden  Horde,  first  fought  his 
way  westward,  until  all  lands  from  the 
Danube  to  the  Pacific  and  from  the  Arctic 
to  the  Himalayas  owned  his  sway.  His  con- 
quests were  purely  Oriental,  and  thus  fall 
into  the  lowest  of  the  three  categories  men- 
tioned by  Fiske,  namely,  conquest  without 
incorporation,  a  grade  lower  than  the 
ancient  Roman  or  modern  Russian,  but  eons 
distant  from  the  highest  class,  the  federa- 
tion, prevailing  in  most  modern  world- 
powers.1 

This  triumphing  over  apparently  impas- 
sable barriers,  asi  Genghis  Khan  did,  when 
he  led  his  barbaric  hordes  across  these  track- 
less, interminable  Siberian  wastes,  evinces 
a  military  genius  of  no  mean  order.  Our 
admiration  at  the  indomitable  will  and  con- 
summate skill  of  this1  Mongolian  chieftain 
rises  higher  and  higher.  Like  Alexander 
the  Great,  he  aimed  at  world-wide  dominion, 
proclaiming  that  "as  there  was  but  one  God 
in  heaven,  so  there  should  be  but  one  ruler 
on  earth." 

Some  six  centuries  ago  these  hardy  pio- 
neers suffered  untold  hardships  as  they 

1  The  Destiny  of  Man,  by  John  Fiske,  pp.  87  and  89. 


KING-AN  AND  GENGHIS  KHAN        75 

.     .     .    fought  to  win  the  prize 
And  sailed  through  bloody  seas. 

To-day,  in  glaring  contrast,  we,  leisurely 
lounging  in  our  comfortable,  well-heated 
coupes,  and  surrounded  by  obliging  servants 
on  the  alert  to  attend  to  our  every  want  and 
whim,  are  indeed  being  carried  along  "on 
flowery  beds  of  ease." 

In  our  day — strangely  enough — a  reflex 
movement  in  the  tide  of  men  is  noticeable. 
Those  enormous  masses  of  Asiatics,  under 
the  sway  of  Genghis  Khan  and  Timur,  swept 
like  a  floodtide  toward  the  setting  sun.  Now 
the  ever-increasing  tide  of  Russian  immigra- 
tion along  the  iron  road  and  the  extensive 
waterways  flows  eastward  on  its  ebb  at  the 
rate  of  nearly  1,000,000  a  year. 

Mongol  Imprint 

Russia  had  suffered  more  from  Mongolian 
invasion  than  any  other  European  power. 
Napoleon's  drastic  epigram,  "Grattez  le 
Russe  et  vous  trouverez  le  Tartare,"  contains 
as  much  truth  as  wit.  One  of  Russia's  own 
aristocracy,  Prince  Dolgorouki,  reveals 
Russia  in  these  words:  "Russia  is  an  im- 
mense edifice,  having  a  European  exterior, 
adorned  with  a  European  fagade,  but  in  the 
interior  it  is  furnished  and  managed  Asiati- 
cally.  The  very  large  majority  of  Russian 
officials,  disguised  in  uniforms  more  or  less 
European,  proceed  in  the  exercise  of  their 


76  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

official  tasks  as  genuine  Tartars."  Gibbon, 
the  historian,  sums!  up  the  Mongolian  im- 
print in  this  way:  "Both  Moscow  and  Kiev 
— the  modern  and  ancient  capitals — were  re- 
duced to  ashes  (by  the  Mongols) ;  a  tempo- 
rary ruin,  less  fatal  than  the  deep  and  per- 
haps indelible  mark,  which  a  servitude  of 
two  hundred  years  has  imprinted  on  their 
character." 

Chinovnik 

AA 

=  CHIN 


(pronounced  like  "ch"  in  China  or  the  Eng- 
lish word  "chin,"  the  lower  part  of  the  face) 
means  "Imperial  Grant." 

"Chin,"  or  "Tschin,"  adopted  by  Russia 
from  the  Mongol  invaders,  was  branded  deep 
by  Peter  the  Great  on  the  Russian  body 
politic.  This  barbaric  Chin,  with  its  chino- 
vniks  (or  tschinovniks) ,  will  ever  remain 
an  ugly  scar  until  the  bright  day  dawns 
whose  healing  rays  will  diffuse  among  Rus- 
sia's millions  the  long-coveted  blessings  of 
enlightened  freedom.  This  Chin,  consisting 
of  a  Mongolian  system  of  rank — not  of  birth, 
education,  or  wealth — is  an  arbitrary  grade 


KING-AN  AND  GENGHIS  KHAN        77 

of  distinction,  conferred  at  the  pleasure  of 
the  Tsar.  Look  at  this  instance :  In  1889  all 
the  justices  of  peace  were,  one  fine  morn- 
ing, removed  by  a  special  ukase  of  Alexander 
III,  and  succeeded  by  "rural  district  cap- 
tains," men  of  no  legal  education  whatever. 
In  China  all  the  evil  effects  of  this  system 
are  more  than  counterbalanced  by  the  demo- 
cratic competitive  civil  service  examination. 
These  examinations  in  China,  open  even  to 
the  lowest  peasant,  furnish  an  opportunity 
for  all  Chinese  ambitious  of  office,  and  serve 
as  a  safety  valve  to  the  seething  body  politic. 
In  Kussia,  on  the  other  hand,  this  despotic 
caste  system  is  graded  into  fourteen  classes. 
Only  chinovniks,  or  holders  of  these  distinc- 
tions, are  eligible  for  office.  The  military 
chinovniks  form  not  only  the  ruling  class, 
but  practically  the  only  class.  The  energy 
and  intelligence  of  Russia  are  centered  in 
her  army,  which,  with  a  few  exceptions, 
claims  every  male  within  the  age  limit,  that 
is,  from  the  twenty-first  to  the  forty-third 
year,  the  first  eighteen  years  being  spent  in 
the  standing  army  and  the  last  four  in  the 
militia.  This  system  of  Chin  is  the  colossal 
incubus  which  is  crushing  out  liberty  and 
education.  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  in  show- 
ing that  religious  freedom  is  based  upon 
education,  instanced  the  schoolhouses  as 
well  as  the  churches  of  New  England,  affirm- 
ing, "Our  New  England  fathers,  although 


78  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

failing  here  and  there  in  some  points  in  the 
administration  of  religious  liberty,  were  pre- 
eminent for  the  time  in  which  they  lived, 
and,  at  the  bottom,  they  were  really  the 
workmen  that  brought  in  the  doctrine  of 
religious  freedom,  because  they  undertook  to 
make  intelligent  men."  In  the  Russian  em- 
pire statistics  show  that  only  three  per  cent 
of  the  population  can  read.  Russia  provides 
for  less  than  two  million  out  of  her  popula- 
tion of  one  hundred  and  thirty  millions,  so 
that  education  is  unknown,  except  among 
the  upper  classes. 

One  of  the  most  malign  and  monstrous 
bureaus  of  this  Chin  is  that  of  the  Holy  Or- 
thodox Church,  presided  over  by  a  layman, 
who  is  subject  only  to  the  authority  of  the 
Tsar,  as  was  originally  constituted  by  Peter 
the  Great.  This  lay  Pope,  styled  the  Over- 
Procurator  of  the  Most  Holy  Governing 
Synod,  has  veto  power  over  the  other  mem- 
bers of  this  Synod,  who  are  personally  se- 
lected by  the  Tsar  from  among  the  higher 
clergy  of  the  Orthodox  Church. 

Some  of  the  mechanical  methods  of  this 
powerful  bureau  have  been  disclosed  by 
Baron  Uxhull.  He  tells  us  that  "a  Moham- 
medan, or  a  heathen,  or  a  Jew,  if  he  wished 
to  become  a  Christian,  could  join  only  the 
Greek  Orthodox  Church.  .  .  .  For  a  thousand 
converts,  the  Greek  Orthodox  missionary  re- 
ceived a  decoration,  a  cross  on  his  breast, 


KING-AN  AND  GENGHIS  KHAN        79 

and  a  certain  sum  of  money.  When  they 
went  into  a  village  they  did  not  preach 
Christ.  They  said:  'See,  we  have  come  to 
invite  you  to  join  the  religion  of  the  em- 
peror; the  emperor  is  the  most  mighty  man 
in  the  whole  world,  and  as  he  is  of  the  Greek 
Orthodox  religion,  of  course  the  Greek  Or- 
thodox religion  is  the  best,  and  the  police 
will  be  indulgent  to  you,  and  the  judge  will 
favor  you,  if  you  join  the  Greek  Orthodox 
Church,  and  next  Sunday  I  will  receive  all 
of  those  who  wish  to  become  members  of  the 
Greek  Orthodox  Church,  and  every  one  of 
you  will  receive  a  little  cross  to  wear  around 
the  neck,  as  the  Greek  Orthodox  do,  and  a 
white  shirt.'  And  then  the  missionary  re- 
ceived the  heathen,  and  every  one  received 
the  little  cross  around  his  neck  and  the 
white  shirt  for  baptism."  Moreover,  accord- 
ing to  the  bureaucratic  regulations,  every 
priest  must  marry,  for  had  not  Paul  in- 
structed Timothy,  "Let  the  deacons  be  the 
husbands  of  one  wife"?  This  wife  is  not  a 
helpmeet  of  his  own  choice,  but  a  virgin — 
never  a  widow — selected  for  him  by  his 
bishop.  If  that  one  wife  dies  the  rigid  rules 
require  that  the  husband  can  no  longer  offi- 
ciate as  a  priest,  but  must  take  monastic 
vows  or  enter  into  secular  work,  so  that 
naturally  her  husband  has  incentives  to 
treat  her  well.  Hence  the  popular  proverb, 
•'Happy  as  a  priest's  wife." 


80  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

For  fifteen  years  Count  Dmitry  Tolstoy,  a 
cousin  of  the  novelist,  was  the  Over-Pro- 
curator, although  he  was  an  avowed  atheist. 
Religion  had,  indeed,  been  dragged  down  to 
the  depths,  when  the  chief  authority  in  the 
church  was  vested  in  a  man  who  boldly  de- 
clared himself  an  unbeliever.  The  change 
was,  however,  much  for  the  worse,  when 
Pobiedonostzeff  succeeded  him.  Neither 
George  Washington  nor  Abraham  Lincoln 
could  have  indorsed  his  political  theories,  as 
published  in  his  Reflections  of  a  Russian 
Statesman,  where  he  affirms,  "Among  the 
falsest  of  political  principles  is  the  prin- 
ciple of  the  sovereignty  of  the  people,  the 
principle  that  all  power  issues  from  the  peo- 
ple, and  is  based  upon  the  national  will."1 

"This  nonmitered  Hildebrand  and  non- 
purpled  Nero  is  inextricably  involved  in  the 
history  of  the  religious  life  of  Russia  for  a 
period  of  about  twenty-five  years.  The  fero- 
cious slaughterings  of  the  saints  of  God 
under  the  pagan  Roman  emperors,  under  our 
English  Queen  Mary,  and  even  the  Walden- 
sian  and  Huguenot  massacres,  dwindle  be- 
side the  'havoc  of  the  church,'  wrought  by 
this  man  Pobiedonostzeff. 

"It  has  been  said  that  no  tyrant  is  so 
remorselessly  tyrannical  as  the  religious 
fanatic.  The  Over-Procurator  was  pre- 

1  Reflections  of  a  Russian  Statesman,  by  K.  P.  Pob- 
iedonostzeff-Grant  Richards,  London.  1808.  In  chapter 
"The  Greatest  Falsehood  of  Our  Time,"  p.  32. 


KING-AN  AND  GENGHIS  KHAN        81 

eminently  a  'religious'  man.  He  might  be 
seen  almost  any  day,  when  in  residence  at 
the  Winter  Palace,  wandering  around  the 
imperial  private  gardens,  with  a  prayer 
book  in  his  hands,  mumbling  his  devotions. 
During  the  greater  part  of  the  year  he  re- 
tires to  the  Sergieff  Monastery  and  mortifies 
his  flesh  as  vigorously  as  any  anchorite,  re- 
maining for  days  upon  his  knees,  fasting  and 
beating  his  forehead  against  the  stone  floor. 

"It  might  be  said  of  him,  as  the  monk 
Nicholas  said  to  Ivan  the  Terrible,  when  he 
was  contemplating  the  massacre  of  the  peo- 
ple of  Pskoff.  Ivan  visited  Nicholas  in  his 
cell.  The  monk  offered  him  a  piece  of  raw 
meat.  'I  am  a  good  Christian,'  said  Ivan, 
'and  eat  no  meat  during  Lent.'  Thou  doest 
worse,'  answered  Nicholas,  'for  thou  feastest 
upon  the  flesh  and  blood  of  Christians.' 

"Like  Saul  of  Tarsus,  Pobiedonostzeff  had 
a  zeal  for  God  that  was  not  to  him  at  all  in- 
consistent with  'breathing  out  threatenings 
and  slaughter'  against  his  servants.  He 
sincerely  imagined  that  be  was  'doing  God's 
service.'  'You  believe  in  a  Christ  of  weak- 
ness and  sentiment ;  but  I  believe  in  a  Christ 
of  authority  and  power,'  said  he  in  a  letter 
to  Count  Leo  Tolstoy."1 

The  religious  toleration  of  the  Mongols 
was  far  superior  to  these  modern  inquisi- 

1  Under  Three  Tsars,  by  Robert  S.  Latlmer,  pp.  133, 
136,  138,  139. 


82  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

torial  methods,  recalling  the  vindictive 
spirit  of  pious  Philip  II.  Sir  Donald  Mac- 
kenzie Wallace  highly  extols  the  religious 
toleration  of  these  Asiatics,  adducing  the 
following  facts  in  proof:  "The  Grand  Khan 
Kuyuk  caused  a  Christian  chapel  to  be 
erected  near  his  domicile,  and  one  of  his 
successors,  Kublai,  was  in  the  habit  of  pub- 
licly taking  part  in  the  Easter  festivals. 
In  1261  the  Khan  of  the  Golden  Horde  al- 
lowed the  Russians  to  found  a  bishopric  in 
his  capital,  and  several  members  of  his 
family  adopted  Christianity.  One  of  them 
founded  a  monastery  and  became  a  saint  of 
the  Russian  Church.  The  Orthodox  clergy 
were  exempted  from  the  poll  tax.  .  .  .  Many 
generations  later,  when  the  property  of  the 
church  was  threatened  by  the  autocratic 
power,  refractory  ecclesiastics  contrasted 
the  policy  of  the  Orthodox  sovereign  with 
that  of  the  'Godless  Tartars,'  much  to  the 
advantage  of  the  latter."1 

1  Russia,    by    Sir    Donald    Mackenzie    Wallace,    1905 
edition,  p.  200. 


CHAPTER  IX 

SIBERIA 

In  Siberia's  wastes 
The  ice-wind's  breath 

Woundeth,  like  the  toothed  steel. 
•     Lost  Siberia  doth  reveal 
Only  blight  and  death. 

Blight  and  death  alone, 
No  summer  shines. 

Night  is  interblent  with  day. 

In  Siberia's  wastes  alway 
The  blood  blackens,  the  heart  pines. 

In  Siberia's  wastes 
No  tears  are  shed, 

For  they  freeze  within  the  brain. 

Naught  is  felt  but  dullest  pain, 
Pain  acute,  but  dead. 

In  Siberia's  wastes 
Are  sands  and  rocks. 

Nothing  blooms  of  green  or  soft, 
But  the  snow-peaks  rise  aloft 
And  the  gaunt  ice-blocks. 

— James  G.  Mangon. 

Prairie  and  Forest  Fires 

THE  plains  at  evening  were  often  lighted 

up  by  prairie  fires,  flaring  up  in  the  rank, 

dry   prairie  grass,    and   throwing   a   fitful, 

lurid  glare  amid  the  dense  darkness  of  the 

83 


84  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

night.  Further  along,  in  higher  regions, 
bright  flames  were  devouring  the  timber, 
evergreens,  and  white  birch. 

White  Birch 

Who  would  believe,  if  his  own  eyes  did 
not  witness  the  sight,  that  white  birch 
formed  so  large  a  proportion  of  the  vast 
forests  of  Siberia?  The  enthusiastic  French 
geographer,  Reclus,  states  that  "toward  the 
southeast,  on  the  Chinese  frontiers,  the  birch 
is  encroaching  on  the  indigenous  species, 
and  the  natives  regard  this  as  a  sure  prog- 
nostic of  the  approaching  rule  of  the  Tsar." 
Whether  this  French  scientist's  notion  is  a 
case  of  chromatic  aberration  or  not,  the  fu- 
ture will  doubtless  determine.  At  all  events 
there  seemed  to  be  an  unfailing  supply  of 
this  choice  wood.  There  seems  ever  to  be  a 
law  of  compensation  in  nature,  as  when  the 
shores  recede  on  one  continent  they  at 
the  same  time  upheave  on  the  opposite.  So 
the  lotus,  whose  magnified  petals  crown  the 
colossal  columns  of  the  mammoth  temple  of 
Karnak — a  temple  three  times  as  large  as 
Saint  Peter's  at  Rome — the  lotus,  which,  as 
food  fit  for  the  gods,  was  so  relished  by 
Ulysses  and  his  crew,  is  now  extinct  in  the 
land  of  the  Pharaohs.  But  to-day  it  blooms 
in  all  its  pristine  luxuriance  in  the  castle 
moats  of  Tokyo  and  elsewhere  in  Japan. 
We  never  were  fortunate  enough  to  join  any 


SIBERIA  85 

happy  band  of  Lotus-Eaters  in  Egypt,  but 
more  than  once  in  China  have  we  tasted  the 
lotus  bean,  served  hot  in  an  aromatic  broth 
at  feasts.  Its  inexpressibly  delicious  flavor 
still  lingers,  as  a  delightful  dream,  since  it 
far  excels  birds'  nest  soup,  sharks'  fins1,  sea- 
slugs,  and  other  rare,  costly  dainties,  so 
highly  prized  by  Celestial  epicures. 

The  edelweiss,  in  quest  of  which  the  ar- 
dent lover  risks  limb  and  life  in  venturesome 
feat  along  inaccessible  Alpine  peaks,  and 
which  the  chamois  hunter,  scaling  slippery 
heights  in  hot  pursuit  of  his  agile  prey, 
pauses  a  moment  to  pluck  and  thrust  into 
his  belt,  to  sell  later  to  the  languid  tourists 
loitering  around  fashionable  hotels  below, 
is  nowadays,  as  we  have  before  observed, 
quite  rare  in  Switzerland.  However,  these 
snowy  white,  irradiant  stars  bespangle  many 
a  broad  steppe  in  Mongolia. 
Blossoming  alone, 
Where  earth's  grief  Is  sorest. 

Similarly  the  beautiful  white  birch,  famil- 
iarly associated  with  the  American  Indian 
and  his  canoe,  is  gradually  disappearing 
from  the  American  continent,  but  in  Siberia 
the  travelers  on  the  transcontinental  trains 
day  by  day  pass  dense  forests  of  this  grace- 
ful tree.  What  the  bamboo  is  to  the  China- 
man the  white  birch  is  to  the  Russian.  With 
its  bark  he  tans  his  valuable  Russian  leather, 
while  its  oil  gives  it  its  pungent  scent.  Its 


86  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

leaves  and  sap,  as  well  as  its  oil,  possess 
certain  medicinal  qualities,  prized  as  potent 
remedies  in  various  chronic  ailments,  while 
its  tough,  coarse-grained  wood  serves  as  ex- 
cellent material  for  furniture  and  household 
utensils,  as  well  as  for  fuel  for  his  fire  to 
cheer  him  with  its  blaze  and  warmth  during 
the  prolonged  cold  of  winter.  So  limitless 
seems  the  supply  around  him  that  he  does 
not  hesitate  to  thatch  his  cabin  with  it.  The 
wood  of  birch  and  other  trees  also  serves  as 
fuel  for  locomotives. 

Transbaikal  Scenery 

Now  and  then  we  would  look  out  of  our 
car  windows  upon  lovely  scenery,  just  such 
cozy  glades  as  would  be  picked  out  in  our 
country  for  picnic  parties.  Sometimes  our 
train  would  wind  its  way  among  mountains 
clothed  with  dark  forests,  the  branches  of 
whose  trees  were  often  trimmed  with  fanci- 
ful, snowy  white  drapery,  as  if  artistically 
arranged  there  by  the  wand  of  some  sylvan 
elf.  Several  places  reminded  us  of  wild 
forest  districts  in  the  Adirondacks  in  early 
spring.  Rude,  zigzag  rail  fences  of  the  early 
Virginia  type  brought  back  pleasant  mem- 
ories of  the  homeland,  and  particularly  of 
that  typical  American,  Abraham  Lincoln, 
with  his  rail-splitting  propensities.  Here, 
as  the  train  whirled  past,  we  caught  glimpses 
of  just  such  bits  of  landscape  as  instinc- 


T I  .\.NKI,    WITH    l.NSCKII'TION.    "To    TIIK    ATLANTIC 
OCEAN" 


SIBERIA  87 

lively  recalled  Elizabethtown  on  the  Lake 
Champlain  side  of  the  Adirondacks  and 
restful  nooks  as  make  a  summer  at  North 
Conway,  New  Hampshire,  so  delightful. 

Generally,  we  were  favored  with  fair 
weather.  Only  occasionally  storms  oc- 
curred, or  a  short-lived  gale  would  go 
soughing  through  the  forest,  when  the 

Wind,  the  grand  old  harper,  smote 

His  thunder-harp  of  pines. 

On  the  morning  of  the  second  day  out  from 
Harbin  we  passed  through  a  little  tunnel 
with  big  inscriptions.  "To  the  Great  Ocean" 
was  inscribed  on  the  frieze  of  its  eastern 
entrance,  while  on  the  western  side  was  "To 
the  Atlantic  Ocean." 

Customs  Examination 

At  three  o'clock  on  the  afternoon  of  the 
third  day  out  our  train  pulled  up  at  the 
station,  Manchuria,  near  the  border  of  Man- 
churia and  Siberia.  Here  our  passports  and 
baggage  were  examined.  All  the  trunks 
were  carried  from  the  baggage  van  into  a 
commodious  room  at  the  station,  where  they 
were  opened  and  subjected  to  a  rigid  and 
rough  examination.  Trays  were  lifted  out 
without  much  ceremony,  while  the  customs 
examiners,  delving  down  to  the  bottom, 
caused  considerable  confusion  and  com- 
plaint. Forewarned  of  the  nuisance  of 
traveling  "via  Siberia"  with  trunks,  we  had 


88  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

all  of  our  traveling  effects  packed  in  hand- 
bags, suitcases,  and  shawl-bundles — nine  in 
all.  After  finishing  our  overland  trip  at 
Saint  Petersburg  we  discarded  the  handbags 
and  repacked  most  of  our  possessions  in  a 
large  Russian  trunk. 

The  hand-baggage  was  examined  on  the 
train.  A  Russian  merchant  from  Vladivo- 
stok, who  was  traveling  with  his  wife,  and 
on  whom  we  had  been  practicing  broken 
Russian,  tried  to  inveigle  us  to  act  as  his 
accomplices  in  smuggling  a  box  of  cigars. 
After  politely  but  firmly  refusing,  he  later 
informed  us  that  he  had  found  somebody 
else  to  do  that  deed  for  him.  For  some  rea- 
son or  other  our  refusal  to  help  him  defraud 
the  Russian  government  did  not  seem  to 
make  any  perceptible  difference  in  his  at- 
titude toward  us,  for  the  next  morning  he 
was  as  affable  and  talkative  as  ever.  When 
the  customs  examiners  came  to  our  coupe* 
one  of  them  felt  with  his  long  cane  under 
our  seats,  and  with  his  hands  searched  be- 
neath the  mattress  of  our  sleeping  berths. 
Suspicious  of  cigar-smuggling,  one  inspec- 
tor, noticing  an  outside  pocket  of  my  coat 
bulging  a  little,  pointed  to  it,  felt  of  it  on 
the  outside,  and  then  requested  me  to  show 
what  was  inside.  So  soon  as  a  red-covered 
"Baedeker"  was  produced,  he  seemed  per- 
fectly satisfied,  promptly  chalked  the  rest  of 
our  baggage,  and  speedily  walked  off,  while 


SIBERIA  89 

the  faces  of  the  bystanders  were  suffused 
with  smiles.  A  few  days  later,  before  reach- 
ing Lake  Baikal,  at  a  station  called  Tan- 
choi,  our  baggage  was  again  examined.  This 
examination,  occurring  at  half  past  two  in 
the  early  morning,  was  most  inconvenient, 
interfering  with  the  slumbers  of  the  pas- 
sengers, so  that  many  preferred  to  remain 
dressed  until  this  ordeal  was  over.  So  far 
as  our  party  was  concerned  the  examination 
was  merely  nominal.  My  wife  and  babe  had 
retired  several  hours  earlier  and  were  sleep- 
ing. As  the  inspector  peered  into  our 
coupe"  I  simply  said,  in  Russian,  "Americans, 
New  York,"  which  he  at  once  comprehended 
and  accepted  at  its  full  face  value  in  lieu  of 
any  examination  whatever. 

Chita 

Some  careful  observers,  as  William  Oliver 
Greener,  in  his  Greater  Russia,  are  of  the 
opinion  that  "east  of  the  Baikal  is  Russia's 
greater  and  better  half,  because  the  land 
has  been  influenced  from  the  West  by  the 
way  of  the  cosmopolitan  Far  East."  Cer- 
tain it  is  that  great  enterprise  has  been 
shown  in  this  district. 

In  the  early  morning,  before  arriving  by 
the  waters  of  Lake  Baikal,  our  train  pulled 
up  at  Chita,  the  flourishing  capital  of  the 
Transbaikal  District.  Several  German  of- 
ficers, conveying  troops  from  their  fatherland 


90  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

for  guard  duty  in  north  China,  had  traveled 
through  this  region  the  previous  spring. 
Their  letters,  narrating  the  journey,  had 
been  published  in  a  German  newspaper  at 
Tientsin.  In  these  letters  they  gave  glow- 
ing descriptions  of  Chita,  whose  romantic 
location  and  scenery  reminded  them  of  their 
beloved  Heidelberg  on  the  Neckar. 

Heidelberg,  du  schone  Stadt, 

Wenn  es  ausgeregnet  hat. 

Dr.  J.  Purvis  Smith,  of  Peking,  who  had 
twice  passed  this  way,  regarded  Chita  as  an 
ideal  spot  for  a  summer  resort.  Historically 
also  Chita  presents  many  interesting  fea- 
tures. 

"Damskaya,"  or  "Ladies  Street,"  is  the 
name  of  the  main  thoroughfare.  It  is  so 
named  in  honor  of  those  faithful  wives  of 
the  nobility  who  followed  into  exile  their 
patriotic  husbands,  called  "dekabrists,"  be- 
cause on  "December"  24,  1825,  they  were 
implicated  in  an  uprising  at  Saint  Peters- 
burg and  banished  to  this  remote  Cossack 
post.  The  heroic  devotion  of  Lady  Trube- 
tskoy,  Princess  Maria  Wolkhonsky,  and  the 
other  Russian  wives,  who  followed  their  ex- 
iled husbands  on  that  long  and  painful  jour- 
ney, has  been  immortalized  by  Nekrasov  in 
his  poem  entitled  "Russian  Women."  Chita 
boasts  of  its  fine  schools  for  boys  and  girls, 
a  training  school  for  midwives,  a  museum 
well  worth  visiting,  a  branch  of  the  Russo- 


SIBERIA  91 

China  Bank,  and  various  large  government 
buildings. 

We  had  planned  to  stop  over  here,  but  as 
the  only  "Official  Guide  of  the  Siberian  Rail- 
way," published  a  few  years  previously, 
stated,  "Hotels  are  Tokyo  and  Bianchinsky, 
with  rooms  at  two  rubles  per  day.  The 
rooms  are  bad,"  etc.,  we  hesitated  until  we 
could  ascertain  whether  we  could  secure 
more  tempting  accommodations.  In  reply 
to  our  inquiries,  the  Minister  of  Ways  and 
Communications  at  Saint  Petersburg  recom- 
mended one  hotel,  the  Russo-China  Bank  at 
Harbin  another,  and  the  old  reliable  firm  of 
Kunst  &  Albers,  at  Vladivostok,  still  an- 
other. Afterward  an  American  fellow 
traveler,  who  stopped  off  there  and  later 
met  us  at  Irkutsk,  told  us  that  he  had 
stopped  at  a  still  different  hostelry  and  had 
found  the  service  and  cuisine  excellent. 

Albazin 

The  clear  waters  of  the  stream  along  the 
east  bank  on  which  the  city  of  Chita  is  built 
have  a  trend  northeastward  and  empty  into 
the  Amur  River,  not  far  from  Albazin,  a 
frontier  post  of  the  Russians,  established 
in  1651,  but  destroyed  by  the  Chinese  in 
1689.  The  Russian  soldiers,  captured  dur- 
ing these  border  skirmishes^  were  sent  as 
prisoners  to  Peking.  At  the  time  Peter  the 
Great  dispatched  a  friendly  mission  to  Pe- 


92  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

king  they  found  a  Russian  colony  in  the 
northeast  quarter  of  the  city,  composed  of 
those  Russian  prisoners.  These  were  even- 
tually formed  into  a  Russian  company — a 
body  of  foreign  soldiers  somewhat  analogous 
to  the  papal  Swiss  Bodyguard  at  Rome, 
Italy.  In  China's  capital  this  Russian  com- 
pany was  attached  to  the  Imperial  Body- 
guard of  the  illustrious  Chinese  emperor, 
Kang-Hsi,  that  wise,  liberal,  and  enterpris- 
ing Manchu  monarch,  whose  Chinese  dic- 
tionary is  the  rich  thesaurus  for  all  subse- 
quent Chinese  lexicographers. 

Less  than  three  hundred  miles  further 
down  the  Amur,  directly  opposite  the  mouth 
of  its  tributary,  Kumara,  on  a  prominent 
projecting  cliff,  has  been  erected  a  huge  iron 
cross,  visible  miles  and  miles  away.  This 
Christian  emblem  is  inscribed  with  the 
Christian  sentiment  forming  the  opening 
sentence  in  the  address  of  Baron  Korft, 
"Power  lies  not  in  force  but  in  love."  Sad 
irony  of  fate!  Less  than  one  hundred  miles 
further  downstream  lies  the  city  of  Blago- 
veshchenk,  the  scene  of  the  ruthless  slaughter 
of  Chinese  by  Russians  in  1900. 

On  its  way  from  Chita  toward  Lake 
Baikal  our  train  halted  at  Yerchne-Udinsk 
(or  Upper  Udinsk),  entrancingly  located  at 
the  junction  of  the  Uda  and  Selenga  Rivers. 
Here  are  the  headquarters  of  the  Trans- 
baikal  Mountain  District  and  a  branch  of 


SIBERIA  93 

the  Russo-China  Bank.  This  is  the  strategic 
point  where  the  Peking-Kalgan  Air  Line 
will  probably  unite  with  the  Trans-Siberian 
Railway.  Trains  are  now  regularly  running 
(in  eight  hours'  time)  between  Peking  and 
Kalgan,  and  the  line  is  being  projected  via 
the  sacred  city  of  Urga  and  the  trading 
post,  Kiachta,  to  this  city.  A  glance  at  the 
map  will  show  what  a  great  saving  in  dis- 
tance will  be  made  by  using  this  "Path  of 
the  Cossack" — the  old  caravan  route  across 
the  desert  of  Gobi — so  long  traversed  by 
camels  laden  with  tea  from  China  to  Rus- 
sia.1 Fifteen  miles  further  downstream  the 
railway  crosses  the  Selenga  on  a  bridge  1,816 
feet  long.  From  Verchne-Udinsk  the  traveler 
may  proceed  by  steamer,  or  by  post  in  a 
tarantass  southward  some  one  hundred 
miles  to  Selenginsk,  a  place  hallowed  with 
sacred  memories.  Here  lived  and  labored 
from  1818  to  1841  two  noble  but  almost  un- 
known English  missionaries,  William  Stally- 
brass  and  Edward  Swan.  These  pioneers  of 
the  cross  did  heroic,  faithful  work  among 
the  Mongols,  and  translated  the  entire  Bible 
into  the  Mongolian  tongue.  A  faint  idea  of 
the  inherent  difficulty  of  this  language  may 
be  had  by  bearing  in  mind  that  our  simple 
English  word  "for"  writh  causal  meaning  is 
written  in  Mongol  with  eleven  syllables — 
"Tere-yagano-tola-hemebesu."  Displaying 

1  The  Russian  Road  to  China,  by  Lindon  Bates,  Jr. 


94  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

the  same  praiseworthy  assiduity  and  faith- 
fulness as  actuated  Robert  Morrison  in 
China,  these  two  Christian  pioneers  cleared 
the  way  for  Gilmour  and  all  later  mission- 
aries among  the  Mongols. 

All  through  the  night  the  Imperial  State 
Express  kept  forging  its  way  over  and 
across,  up  and  down  the  snarled,  twisted 
slopes  of  the  Transbaikal  range.  When  our 
train  came  to  a  standstill  at  Missovaia 
scarcely  had  the  faintest  rays  of  the  rising 
sun  begun  to  throw  a  glow,  as  a  delicately 
tinted  gossamer  veil,  over  the  snow-crowned 
mountain  summits.  Those  towering  peaks 
stood  with  closed  ranks,  like  gaunt,  grim 
giants,  guarding,  as  their  willing  captive,  the 
fair  form  of  this  lovely,  though  oft  fickle, 
lake,  now  calmly  reposing  at  their  feet. 
Missovaia  lies  directly  on  the  shores  of  Lake 
Baikal,  whose  surface  is  fifteen  hundred  feet 
above  the  sea  level.  Here  was  opened  before 
our  eyes  a  magnificent  panorama  of  superb 
loveliness.  The  placid  surface  of  the  great 
lake  reflected  in  the  bright  morning  light 
the  snow-capped  mountains  and  the  floating 
clouds  in  the  blue  sky  above. 

After  the  Great  Lakes  of  North  America 
and  Victoria  Nyanza  in  Africa,  Lake  Baikal 
is  the  largest  body  of  fresh  water  on  the 
globe.  An  idea  of  its  immense  size  may  be 
gained  by  comparison.  It  is  as  long  as  Eng- 
land, and  in  places  it  is  more  than  a  mile 


ICE  BREAKER.  "BAIKAL."  ox  LVKI:  BATKAI. 


SIBERIA  95 

deep.  Its  clear,  greenish  waters  are  well 
stocked  with  fish,  but  it  has  the  unique  dis- 
tinction of  being  the  only  body  of  fresh 
water  in  which  seals  live  and  sport. 

Before  the  railway  around  the  lake  was 
opened,  in  1905,  the  traffic  was  carried  over 
the  lake  in  sledges  on  the  ice,  or  by  large 
ice-breaking  steamers,  to  and  from  the  harbor 
of  Baikal  on  the  opposite  shore.  The  two 
''ice-breakers,"  named  respectively  Baikal 
and  Angara,  are  most  powerful  steamers, 
built  in  England  by  the  well-known  firm  of 
Armstrong.  The  ice-breaker  Baikal  is  large 
enough  to  carry  twenty-five  ordinary  Eu- 
ropean freight  cars,  while  its  titanic  en- 
gines, developing  3,750  horse-power,  crush 
into  atoms  or  thrust  on  either  side  any  ice 
presumptuous  enough  to  oppose  its  progress. 

The  sinuous  southern  border  of  Lake 
Baikal,  in  the  character  of  its  massive,  moun- 
tains, whose  rugged  cliffs  and  precipitous 
spurs  boldly  advance  into  the  deep,  allowing 
only  here  and  there  scanty,  narrow,  sandy 
beaches,  resembles  the  Italian  Kiviera  from 
Pisa  to  Genoa  and  beyond.  The  roadbed  is 
well  ballasted  on  solid  foundations.  All 
reports  of  quicksands,  causing  the  railway 
embankment  to  fall  down  in  times  of  heavy 
rains,  were  found  to  be  mere  myths,  if  not 
baseless  cavils  of  an  enemy.  Extensive  and 
expensive  rock-cutting  was  in  evidence. 

Between  Missovaia  and  Baikal — the  last 


96  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

station  of  the  railway  bordering  the  lake — 
our  train  skirted  along  the  indented,  pic- 
turesque coast,  plunging  in  and  out  of  some 
eighty  tunnels.  Any  tourist  who  takes  the 
railway  line  along  the  curving,  rocky  coast 
of  the  Ligurian  Sea  may  have  the  same  kind 
of  experience  in  passing  through  a  similar 
succession  of  tunnels.  So  numerous  are  the 
tunnels  along  that  Italian  coast  that  even 
now  memory  conjures  up  vivid  pictures  of 
two  American  children  amusing  themselves 
and  at  the  same  time  practicing  Chinese  and 
French  by  counting  alternately  in  these  dif- 
ferent tongues  the  rapidly  passing  tunnels 
as  they  came  along  in  quick  succession. 

Siberian  Waterways 

On  the  crisp  morning  of  May  20,  while  we 
were  stopping  at  Baikal,  the  ice,  broken  into 
large  and  small  cakes,  was  still  floating  on 
the  surface  of  the  lake.  At  this  station  the 
railway  left  the  lake  and  ran  along  the  left 
bank  of  the  Angara  Kiver  to  Irkutsk,  but 
this  river  continues  one  thousand  miles 
further  on  its  tortuous  course,  until  it  pours 
its  waters  into  the  broad  Yenesei.  The 
waters  of  the  Angara,  as  it  issues  from  Lake 
Baikal,  are  as  swift  and  clear  as  those  of  the 
Rhone,  where  they  rush  forth  out  of  Lake 
Leman  at  Geneva,  Switzerland. 

It  may  not  be  generally  known  that  the 
finest  and  most  extensive  system  of  inland 


SIBERIA  97 

navigation  in  the  world  is  to  be  found  in 
Siberia.  Vessels  can  go  from  Lake  Baikal 
via  the  Angara  to  the  Yenesei  and  thence 
up  one  of  its  tributaries,  the  Kass,  and  pass 
through  a  canal  to  the  Ket  River,  a  tributary 
of  the  Obi,  and  thence  by  the  Obi,  Irtysh, 
and  Tobol  Rivers  to  the  very  base  of  the 
Ural  Mountains.  This  inland  water  route 
is  only  one  part  of  the  15,000  miles  of  inland 
navigation  which  Siberia  possesses.  These 
mighty  rivers,  freighted  with  steamers  and 
other  craft,  transport  men  and  goods  north- 
ward to  the  Arctic  Ocean  and  southward  to 
the  mines,  grazing  grounds,  and  fastnesses 
of  the  Altai  Mountains. 

Strange  as  it  may  seem,  official  statistics 
show  that  far  more  immigrants  are  conveyed 
in  Siberia  by  steamers  than  by  train.  Put- 
nam-Weale  states:  "Great  crowds  come  by 
steamer  up  the  rivers  Obi  and  Irtysh,  and 
in  a  lesser  degree  the  Yenesei.  From  1897 
to  1904 — the  beginning  of  the  war — it  is  cal- 
culated that  200,000  were  annually  entering 
the  country  in  this  way,  while  the  number  of 
those  conveyed  by  railway  sometimes  ex- 
ceeded 100,000."  Anyone  aware  of  these 
facts  need  not  be  surprised  that  the  keen- 
sighted,  though  defeated  warrior,  General 
Kuropatkin,  in  his  painstaking  treatise  on 
the  Russo-Japanese  war,  points  out  with  the 
eye  of  a  Moltke  as  one  of  five  essentials  for 
success  in  any  future  war  in  the  Far  East, 


98  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

"to  prepare  the  waterways  of  Siberia  for  the 
movement  of  heavy  freight  from  west  to 
east." 

A  delightful  ride  of  forty-one  miles  in  the 
wide,  fertile  Angara  valley,  dotted  with  vil- 
lages and  farmsteads,  brought  us  to  Glas- 
gow, as  the  railway  suburb  opposite  Irkutsk 
is  called.  We  alighted  and  entered  the  large 
railway  station,  modeled  after  the  usual  Eu- 
ropean type,  with  commodious  restaurants  of 
the  first,  second,  and  third-class,  and  numer- 
ous offices  and  rooms  for  railway  business, 
besides  newspaper  stands,  where  periodicals 
and  picture  postals  were  displayed  for  sale. 
All  around  us  were  officials — railway  and 
military — porters,  passengers,  immigrants, 
and  onlookers.  Locomotives  were  whistling, 
bells  ringing,  and  trains  being  shunted. 
Near  by  were  yards,  fencing  in  lumber  and 
other  kinds  of  freight.  On  the  other  side  of 
the  Angara,  in  the  near  distance,  loomed  up 
the  domes,  towers,  and  pinnacles  of  the  city 
of  Irkutsk,  luring  us  thither.  The  porter  of 
Hotel  Metropole,  already  notified  by  tele- 
gram, greeted  us  and  engaged  two  droskies. 
After  piling  our  nine  "articles  de  voyage"  in 
one  vehicle  and  assisting  us  into  the  other, 
he  sped  ahead  on  his  bicycle.  Our  droskies 
followed  at  a  slower  pace,  and  in  crossing 
over  the  Angara  on  the  pontoon  bridge 
stopped  a  few  moments  to  pay  the  customary 
toll  of  a  few  kopeks. 


SIBERIA  99 

The  icy  cold,  emerald  waters  of  the  An- 
gara rather  chill  and  repel  the  beholder,  as 
do  those  of  the  Saguenay  near  Quebec,  for 
rivers,  like  men,  seem  to  possess  a  person- 
ality of  their  own.  The  Rhine  and  the  Hud- 
son attract  by  their  winsomeness.  We  love 
to  linger  along  their  banks  and  find  rest  in 
their  peace  and  beauty.  The  Saguenay  and 
the  Angara,  on  the  other  hand,  although 
mighty  and  majestic,  with  deep  and  power- 
ful current,  rather  repel.  We  may  admire, 
but  we  do  not  love. 


CHAPTER  X 

IRKUTSK 

The  police  are  few,  escaped  convicts  and  ticket- 
of-leave  men  many.  In  Irkutsk,  and  all  towns  east 
of  it,  the  stranger  should  not  walk  after  dark.  If 
a  carriage  cannot  be  got,  as  is  often  the  case,  the 
only  way  is  to  tramp  noisily  along  the  planked 
walk.  Be  careful  in  making  crossings,  and  do  not 
stop,  or  the  immense  mongrel  mastiffs,  turned  loose 
into  the  streets,  as  guards,  will  attack.  To  walk 
in  the  middle  of  the  road  is  to  court  attack  from 
the  garroters,  with  which  Siberia  abounds. — Brad- 
shaw's  Through  Routes  to  the  Chief  Cities  of  the 
World,  latest  edition,  1907,  under  "Irkutsk." 

Safety 

CORROBORATING  this  quotation  from  Brad- 
shaw — the  vade-mecum  of  every  loyal  British 
traveler — but  giving  more  minute  particu- 
lars, writes  William  Oliver  Greener  as  fol- 
lows: "Siberian  towns,  even  capitals  like 
Tomsk,  Irkutsk,  and  Kharbarovsk,  are 
squalid,  mean,  and  unkempt.  The  streets 
are  badly  illuminated,  and  after  dark  are 
roamed  by  great  yard-dogs — mastiffs  and 
other  fierce  brutes — which  are  trained  to 
take  little  or  no  attention  of  the  few  pe- 
destrians who  tramp  noisily  along  the  side- 
walks, but  approach  and  commence  to  attack 
if  one  hesitates  but  so  long  as  necessary  to 
100 


IRKUTSK  101 

determine  whether  to  turn  to  right  or  left. 
The  dogs  of  Constantinople  are  lapdogs  in 
comparison  to  these  savage  mongrels  turned 
loose  in  all  Siberian  towns  and  villages  after 
dark.  Crime  is  prevalent  in  all  Siberian 
towns;  murders,  assaults,  outrages,  and 
burglary  are  the  common  forms.  Garroting 
is  the  usual  device  of  the  footpad.  With  a 
short  stick  or  a  noose  of  twine,  he  approaches 
his  victim  stealthily  from  the  rear,  slips  the 
cord  over  his  head,  and  strangles  the  man, 
woman,  or  child,  who  is  unable  to  utter  a  cry. 
Then  he  strips  the  body  of  everything  likely 
to  lead  to  its  identification  and  decamps. 
If  there  is  an  accomplice  he  blocks  the 
stranger's  advance  or  engages  his  attention 
at  the  right  moment."1  At  Vladivostok, 
years  ago,  we  gladly  gave  the  right  of  way 
to  such  massive  canine  brutes,  which  were 
like 

Vice,    ...    a  monster  of  so  frightful  mien, 
As,  to  be  hated,  needs  but  to  be  seen. 

Grains  of  truth  are  doubtless  to  be  found 
in  these  heaps  of  exaggeration.  Still  the 
patent  fact  remains  that  during  the  last 
decade  Siberia,  as  well  as  all  the  Far  East, 
has  been  far  from  stagnant. 

Candor,  however,  compels  one  to  ask,  "Are 
Irkutsk,  Tomsk,  and  other  Siberian  cities 
the  only  unsafe  spots  on  the  surface  of  the 
globe?"  Have  Berlin,  London,  and  San 

1  Greater  Russia,  1904,  pp.  116,  117. 


102  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

Francisco  no  toughs,  thugs,  or  hoodlums? 
Paris,  we  know,  was  recently  terrorized  by 
the  vitriol-throwing  Apaches  on  her  boule- 
vards. Andrew  H.  Green,  "the  father  of 
Greater  New  York,"  was  shot  dead  near  his 
own  residence  on  Manhattan  Island,  and  in 
this  year  of  grace,  1910,  a  banker,  Van 
Norden,  was  the  victim  of  one  of  the  most 
daring  highway  robberies  in  the  annals  of 
crime,  and  that  by  two  female  outlaws. 
Surely,  aristocratic  Dame  Knickerbocker 
need  not  hold  up  her  skirts  in  Pharisaic 
aloofness. 

"There  has  been  no  time  in  many  years 
past  in  which  crimes  of  violence  have  been 
more  rife  than  they  have  been  in  recent  years 
in  the  oldest  and  most  thickly  populated 
parts  of  this  community.  Take,  for  in- 
stance, the  community  in  and  about  the  city 
of  New  York.  Murders,  maimings,  assaults 
with  deadly  weapons,  dynamite  bomb  ex- 
plosions, burglaries,  highway  robberies,  cases 
of  arson — particularly  in  crowded  tenement 
houses — the  shootings  of  wives  by  drunken 
husbands,  and  of  girls  by  degenerates  whom 
they  have  refused  to  marry;  in  short,  every 
kind  of  violent  crime  has  occurred  in  and 
about  the  city  to  an  unprecedented  extent."1 

Vigilance  and  alertness  are  valuable  as- 
sets everywhere,  whether  in  New  York  or 

1  Judge  Holt,  of  the  United  States  District  Court  of 
New  York.  In  The  Independent,  New  York,  August  11, 
1910. 


IRKUTSK  103 

Xijni-Xovgorod,  Tomsk,  or  Timbuctoo.  Each 
place  has  its  peculiar  dangers.  If  prom- 
enading at  night  in  Naples  or  Irkutsk 
may  allure  the  stiletto  or  garroter's  rope, 
simple  caution  would  compel  the  tourist  to 
restrict  his  promenading  to  the  daytime. 
The  summer  days  in  Siberia  and  Russia  are 
so  lengthened  that  we  could  read  books  or 
papers  by  daylight  even  later  than  nine 
o'clock  in  the  evening,  and  we  had  to  be  very 
careful  to  darken  the  windows  or  rig  up  an 
umbrella  to  keep  the  merry  sunshine  from 
awakening  little  Marion  even  as  early  as 
three  in  the  morning.  With  this  supera- 
bundance of  daylight  any  rational  traveler 
ought  to  be  satisfied  and  not  grumble  be- 
cause discretion  literally  emphasizes  the 
scriptural  advice,  "Walk  while  ye  have  the 
light,  lest  darkness  come  upon  you." 

One  night,  during  our  stay  at  Irkutsk,  a 
physician  received  an  urgent  call  from  a 
patient  between  one  and  two  o'clock  in  the 
morning.  While  he  was  hastily  walking  to- 
ward the  patient's  home  a  footpad  attacked 
him  with  a  revolver.  Instantly  the  physician 
fired  his  own  revolver,  and  was  fortunate 
enough,  with  aim  sufficiently  true,  to  kill  his 
assailant.  By  the  simple  policy  of  doing 
our  sight-seeing  in  the  daytime,  and  by  keep- 
ing away  from  notoriously  dangerous  locali- 
ties, we  were  not  anywhere  molested  during 
our  entire  stav  in  Siberia  and  Russia. 


104  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

Hotel  Metropole 

The  hotel  porter,  preceding  our  two  dros- 
kies,  as  we  rode  over  the  Angara  toward  our 
hotel,  did  not  dash  ahead  to  clear  the  way, 
like  a  sandaled  "betto"  through  the  narrow 
streets  of  Kyoto,  nor  like  a  gayly  sashed 
"sais"  in  the  crowded  alleys  of  Cairo.  No 
such  precaution  was  necessary,  for  the 
streets  that  hour  seemed  to  be  deserted,  with 
the  exception  of  a  few  pedestrians  here  and 
there.  It  needs  a  holiday  to  make  those 
streets  alive  with  men,  women,  and  children. 

On  our  arrival  at  Hotel  Metropole  we  were 
ushered  through  a  hallway,  past  a  public 
telephone,  and  upstairs  to  choice  rooms  on 
the  first  floor.  The  regulation  "icons,"  or 
sacred  metallic  pictures  high  up  in  a  corner 
of  each  room,  welcomed  us  as  visitors.  The 
icon  in  the  parlor  represented  the  Madonna 
and  Babe,  and  the  other  the  adult  Christ. 
The  apartments,  commanding  a  good  view 
of  the  street  and  beyond,  looked  commodious 
and  cheery  as  the  bright  sunshine  was  flood- 
ing them  with  its  light  and  warmth.  We 
were  delighted  to  find  awaiting  us  a  home 
mail  with  late  copies'  of  the  Outlook  and 
the  Evening  Post  of  New  York,  and  other 
periodicals.  One  letter  from  Connecticut 
had  been  only  twenty-four  days  on  its  way, 
which  made  us  realize  that  we  were  gradu- 
ally nearing  the  homeland. 


HOTEL  METROPOLE,  IRKUTSK 


LOG-SI,IDIXG    IN*    PARK.    TOMSK 


IRKUTSK  105 

Our  bedroom  was  furnished  with  two  beds, 
a  wardrobe,  a  chest  of  drawers,  and  an  in- 
genious automatic  washstand.  The  last 
mentioned  article  we  found  to  be  a  common 
piece  of  furniture  in  Russian  hotels  every- 
where. This  washstand  had  a  marble  slab 
and  bowl  on  the  top,  and  above  at  the  back 
a  marble-faced  reservoir  filled  with  pure 
water  and  provided  with  a  faucet,  while 
hidden  underneath  was  a  pail  for  waste 
water.  Both  rooms  were  equipped  with 
electric  lights.  Our  adjoining  parlor  had  its 
floor  covered  with  oilcloth,  over  which  was 
spread  a  large  rug.  The  room  was  elabo- 
rately furnished  with  handsomely  uphol- 
stered red-plush  furniture,  a  sofa  and  chairs, 
large  and  small,  a  tall  pier-glass  between 
the  two  front  windows,  lace  curtains,  a  bric-a- 
brac  stand,  and  two  tables.  One  was  a  good- 
sized  writing  table,  on  which  lay  a  large 
sheet  of  blue  blotting  paper,  with  inkstand 
and  pens,  and  also  a  fancy  movable  electric 
reading  lamp,  while  the  other  was  our  pri- 
vate dining  table,  covered  with  a  white  table- 
cloth. Mention  must  also  be  made  of  the 
typical  Russian  stove,  which  stood  in  a 
corner  near  the  door.  This  was  made  of 
brick,  faced  with  white  glazed  tiles,  and 
reached  nearly  to  the  ceiling.  The  stove  door 
was  in  the  hallway,  where  the  fire  is  made 
and  the  heat  regulated. 

Two   aspects  of   Siberian   hotel   manage- 


106  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

ment  surprised  us.  One  was  the  elegant  and 
often  luxurious  furniture  and  furnishings, 
and  the  other  the  lack  of  ordinary  necessi- 
ties in  the  bedroom.  No  soap  and  no  sheets, 
except  as  extras.  In  this  hotel  only  one 
sheet  was  provided  for  each  bed.  How  to 
manage  this  single  sheet  was  a  puzzle  al- 
most as  difficult  to  us  as  were  the  two  sheets 
to  Booker  T.  Washington,  which  he  found 
upon  his  bed  on  his  first  evening  after  his 
"sweeping"  entrance  examination  at  Hamp- 
ton Institute.  The  first  night,  he  tells  us, 
he  slept  under  both  sheets,  the  second  on 
top  of  both,  until,  noticing  how  the  other 
students  did,  he  discovered  the  golden  mean, 
which  has  been  his  habit  ever  since.  If  we 
might  hazard  a  Yankee's  right,  we  would 
guess  that  the  Russian  traveler  would  pre- 
pare himself  for  his  night's  rest  with  this 
single  sheet  in  the  same  way  that  the  popular 
ballad  of  "The  Wake  of  Flannigan"  says  that 
the  Irish  mourners  did  for  their  late  friend's 
last  long  rest — "They  wrapped  him  up  in 
a  clean,  white  sheet."  We,  however,  were 
fastidious  and  extravagant  enough  to  de- 
mand two  sheets  for  each  bed  and  slept 
soundly,  as  in  the  good  old-fashioned  way  at 
home.  We  found  by  experience  that  in  Si- 
beria it  is  expensive  to  keep  clean.  Twenty 
cents  United  States  gold  is  the  regulation 
charge  for  one  small  cake  of  soap.  For- 
tunately, we  "had  taken  time  by  the  fetlock," 


IRKUTSK  107 

as  the  Irishman  said,  since  we  have  provided 
ourselves  with  a  sufficient  supply  of  a  well- 
known  soap. 

Here,  as  throughout  Siberia,  a  placard 
fastened  on  the  wall  of  our  room  indicated 
in  Kussian  and  French  the  fixed  prices  ac- 
cording to  law  for  the  rooms  and  for  eata- 
bles. Here  we  paid  daily  two  rubles  for  our 
bedroom  and  three  rubles  for  our  parlor. 
No  extra  charge  was  made  for  serving  meals 
in  the  rooms. 

The  exterior  of  this  hotel  had  a  curious 
primitive  appearance,  for  it  was  built  of 
logs,  notched  at  the  points  of  juncture  and 
projecting  at  their  ends  from  each  corner 
of  the  building.  A  kind  of  moss,  served  as 
oakum,  pressed  tightly  between  the  layers 
of  logs  to  keep  out  the  intense  cold  of  the 
long  winter  months. 

Irkutsk  also  boasts  of  two  other  hotels 
on  the  main  street  erected  within  a  few 
years.  These  are  not  built  of  logs  on  the 
outside  and  furnished  modernly  on  the  in- 
side, like  Hotel  Metropole,  but  they  are  of 
modern  construction  throughout  and  would 
be  sightly  structures  in  any  city.  A  chance 
acquaintance — an  American  commercial 
traveler — who  had  stopped  off  at  Chita,  met 
us  a  few  days  later  at  .Irkutsk  and  wanted 
us  to  visit  him  at  the  Grand  Hotel,  where 
he  was  staying.  He  could  not  speak  Rus- 
sian, and  so  desired  us  to  help  him  ask  the 


108  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

hotel  management  to  find  an  interpreter  for 
him.  There  was  no  person  at  the  hotel  who 
could  speak  German,  French,  or  English. 
Finally,  from  another  section  of  the  city,  a 
seedy-looking  specimen  of  humanity  was  se- 
cured who  knew  a  little  German  and  proved 
of  some  assistance. 

Lutheran  Church 

Beautifully  located  near  the  heart  of  the 
city,  where  two  broad  avenues  meet,  stands 
the  attractive  Lutheran  church,  with  its 
graceful  spire  pointing  heavenward.  It  is 
surrounded  by  a  wood-embowered  court  in- 
closed by  a  wall  of  brick  and  iron  grating. 
Away  out  here,  in  far-away  Siberia,  it  looks 
just  like  many  a  similar  one  in  Saxony  or 
the  lower  Rhine  country.  One  did  not  need 
much  imagination  to  believe  that  it  had  been 
bodily  transported  here,  as  they  say  was  the 
case  of  ''The  Sacred  Staircase"  from  Pilate's 
Court  at  Jerusalem  to  Rome,  Italy.  "Dem 
Name  Werde  Gelobet,"  in  large  letters,  in- 
scribed on  the  arch  over  the  front  cruciform 
window,  ought  to  make  any  true  Deutscher 
reverently  doff  his  hat  and  stand  still  and 
let  grateful  thoughts  of  his  distant  father- 
land float  soulfully  over  his  memory.  This 
church  we  could  easily  view  from  our  win- 
dows, as  it  was  only  a  few  steps  away.  It 
had  the  distinction  of  possessing  the  only 
church  organ  in  all  Siberia.  This  is  not 


//HV 


LUTHERAN  CHURCH  AT  IRKUTSK 


IRKUTSK  109 

such  a  unique  distinction  as  at  first  sight 
might  appear,  for  we  have  to  remember  that 
in  all  the  multitude  of  Orthodox  Greek 
cathedrals  and  churches  no  organ  or  other 
wind  or  stringed  instruments  accompany 
the  human  voice.  Only  with  vocal  music, 
melodiously  rich  beyond  description,  does 
the  devout  adoration  of  the  worshipers  soar 
heavenward.  On  Sunday  the  music,  which 
formed  a  large  part  of  the  service  in  this 
Lutheran  church,  was  very  fine.  At  the  com- 
munion service  four  persons  were  admitted 
and  the  Lord's  Supper  administered. 

After  we  had  scrubbed  off  some  of  the  dust 
and  dirt  of  travel,  and  had  refreshed  our- 
selves with  a  simple  luncheon,  we  walked 
over  to  the  parsonage  of  the  Lutheran 
church.  A  neat  servant  girl  opened  the 
door  and  ushered  us  into  the  parlor,  where 
soon  appeared  the  pastor,  who  gave  us  a 
most  cordial  welcome. 

He  informed  us  that  the  previous  year 
four  British  gentlemen  from  China  had 
stopped  over  a  few  days  at  Irkutsk.  We 
ascertained  afterward  that  he  had  written 
the  section  of  Baedeker's  Russia  referring 
to  Irkutsk,  for  he  showed  us  his  copy  of 
Baedeker,  on  whose  fly-leaf  were  the  words, 
"With  the  compliments  of  the  Editor."  Al- 
though a  very  busy  man  and  frequently  in- 
terrupted by  callers,  he  showed  us  every 
possible  attention  and  courtesy,  so  that 


110  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

through  his  assistance  we  were  enabled  to 
obtain  a  fair  idea  of  the  sights  and  insights 
of  this  rapidly  growing  inland  city.  He 
estimates  from  official  sources  that  the  pres- 
ent population  is  in  the  neighborhood  of 
100,000. 

This  Lutheran  clergyman  is  a  native  of 
the  Baltic  provinces,  had  studied  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Dorpat,  and  had  lived  eight  years 
in  Irkutsk,  where  every  Sunday  he  holds 
services  in  three  languages — German,  Let- 
tish, and  Esthonian.  Besides  these  tongues 
and  the  Russian,  he  had  often  to  talk  with 
people  in  several  other  languages  and  dia- 
lects. Every  summer  his  work  takes  him 
several  months  away  from  his  home  on  his 
tours  to  his  mission  stations  among  the  rude 
tribes  along  the  Amur.  At  the  time  of  our 
stay  at  Irkutsk  his  wife  and  two  daughters 
were  on  their  way  to  visit  their  former 
western  home. 

The  City 

Irkutsk  is  the  residence  of  a  governor- 
general  and  also  of  an  archbishop.  Among 
its  institutions,  besides  churches,  schools, 
and  museums,  it  has  civil  and  military  hos- 
pitals and  several  orphanages,  one  of  which 
is  especially  provided  for  the  children  of 
exiles.  Less  than  fifty  miles  to  the  north- 
west is  one  of  the  largest  prisons  in  Siberia. 
It  is  named  Alexandrovskaya,  and  sometimes 


STATUE  OF  AI.EXAXPKI:  Til  AT  IRKUTSK 


IRKUTSK  111 

confines  within  its  walls  200,000  convicts, 
waiting  to  be  drafted  for  work  in  the  mines. 
Irkutsk  has  also  several  learned  and  philan- 
thropic societies,  including  a  branch  of  the 
Imperial  Society  of  Saint  Petersburg,  whose 
chief  object  is  to  prevent  abuses  in  prison 
discipline. 

By  nature  Irkutsk  is  most  favorably  situ- 
ated, where  the  Irkut  empties  into  the  en- 
circling Angara,  not  far  from  the  great  in- 
land Lake  Baikal.  It  possesses  railway  com- 
munication east  and  west  by  the  Trans- 
Siberian  line,  and,  being  the  emporium  for 
the  rich  Vitim  gold  mines  and  the  Amur 
trade  and  travel  on  the  north  and  northeast, 
as  well  as  levying  tribute  on  the  increasing 
commerce  from  the  Pacific  via  Vladivostok, 
and  from  Korea  and  China  via  Manchuria, 
Irkutsk  has  a  great  and  prosperous  future 
opening  before  it. 

Bolsche  Kaya 

Most  of  the  principal  buildings,  as  the 
Museum,  Opera  House,  modern  hotels,  and 
large  stores,  are  on  the  "Bolsche  Kaya,"  or 
"Great  Street."  At  the  head  of  this  thor- 
oughfare stands  a  colossal  bronze  statue  of 
Tsar  Alexander  III,  raised  aloft  upon  a  red 
Scotch  granite  pedestal.  This  statue  is  near 
the  edge  of  a  favorite  park  along  the  banks 
of  the  Angara.  Here  on  Sundays  and  other 
holidays  the  populace  love  to  ramble  and 


112  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

rest  under  the  trees  on  the  benches.  In  front 
of  this  statue  a  Russian  soldier  paces  back 
and  forth  on  guard.  We  were  informed  that 
every  winter  a  large  wooden  casing  is  built 
around  the  statue  and  kept  heated,  so  as  to 
prevent  the  surface  of  the  granite  from 
peeling  or  splitting  off  by  the  action  of  the 
severe  cold. 

Museum 

The  Museum  happened  to  be  closed  for 
repairs  on  our  arrival  at  Irkutsk,  but 
through  the  kind  mediation  of  this  Luther- 
an clergyman,  who  proved  a  friend  indeed, 
an  hour  was  appointed  when,  under  the  guid- 
ance of  the  director,  we  could  look  over  its 
valuable  collections.  Fortunately  for  us, 
most  of  the  exhibits  were  labeled  in  both 
Latin  and  Russian.  This  urbane  director, 
wearing  shaggy  locks  and  a  patriarchal 
beard,  and  attired  in  a  long,  heavy  robe, 
with  his  trousers  tucked  inside  his  top-boots, 
looked  like  a  veritable  "Old  Man  of  the 
Woods."  His  geniality  was  evidenced  by 
his  incessant,  eager  efforts  to  explain  his  be- 
loved curios,  but  the  lifeless  Latin  helped 
us  more,  and  most  of  all  the  lucid  explana- 
tions later  given  by  our  German-speaking 
friend. 

On  the  second  story  were  extensive  collec- 
tions of  utensils  and  implements  pertaining 
to  the  primitive  ages  of  man,  systematically 


IRKUTSK  113 

arranged  and  labeled,  and  illustrated  by  life- 
sized  figures  of  Buriats,  Tulugus,  Aleutians, 
ct  al.  Some  of  these  wore  bead-bedecked 
leather  garments,  like  our  American  Indians. 
What  especially  interested  us,  however,  were 
specimens  of  rhinoceroses,  elephants,  and 
other  ancient  mammoths,  found  in  these 
frozen  regions,  especially  in  the  Lena  valley, 
not  many  miles  north.  The  curious  appear- 
ances of  long,  straggling  hairs  on  the  hides 
of  these  huge  antediluvian  monsters  at- 
tracted our  attention.  We  were  told  that  the 
flesh  on  these  mammoths  was  so  solidly  fro- 
zen and  well  preserved  that  when  thawed 
dogs  devoured  it  with  a  relish. 

Where  these  mammoths  were  found  is  "a 
region  of  alluvial  soil,  but  spread  out  in 
those  vast  quivering  morasses,  which  form 
the  urmans  of  Siberia.  Even  to  wild  ani- 
mals these  urmans  are  forbidden  ground. 
The  nimble-stepping,  broad-hoofed  reindeer 
can  sometimes  cross  them  safely  in  the  sum- 
mer time,  but  most  other  large  animals  at- 
tempting to  do  so  would  be  quickly  engulfed. 
This  may  be  a  partial  explanation  of  the 
remains  of  mammoth  and  rhinoceros,  which 
are  so  abundant  and  so  widely  diffused 
through  those  northern  marshlands  of  Si- 
beria. When  an  ice-pack  breaks  down  a 
river-bank,  or  floods  tear  up  a  frozen  marsh, 
or  the  summer  thaw  penetrates  a  little  more 
deeply  than  usual  into  the  ground,  some  of 


114  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

these  antediluvian  monsters  are  sure  to  be 
exposed.  In  many  cases  they  are  so  fresh 
and  well  preserved,  with  their  dark,  shaggy 
hair  and  under-wool  of  reddish  brown,  their 
tufted  ears  and  long,  curved  tusks,  that  all 
the  aborigines,  and  even  some  of  the  Russian 
settlers,  persist  in  the  belief  that  they  are 
specimens  of  animals  which  still  live,  bur- 
rowing under  ground,  like  moles,  and  which 
die  the  instant  they  are  admitted  to  light. 
There  is  a  great  market  for  these  tusks  at 
Yakutsk  on  the  Lena,  from  which  they  find 
their  way  not  only  to  the  workshops  of  Eu- 
rope, but  even  to  the  ivory  carvers  of  Can- 
ton."1 

Most  mysterious  and  awful  is  the  alchemy 
in  nature's  laboratory.  Just  to  think  of  it! 
Eons  earlier,  wild  elephants,  rhinoceroses, 
and  kindred  mammoths  roamed  freely  over 
these  Siberian  plains,  as  they  now  do  in 
equatorial  Uganda,  hunted  by  Roosevelt  and 
other  modern  Nimrods. 

Russian  Holidays 

Russia  is  great,  especially  in  holidays. 
Holidays  in  the  Russian  soil  or  climate  at- 
tain an  abnormally  rank  and  luxuriant 
growth,  as1  of  the  Mesozoic  Age.  Perchance 
the  phylogeny  of  Russian  holidays  may  be 
deduced  from  the  same  paleozoic  period,  as 


1  Four    Thousand    Miles    Across    Siberia,    by    Charles 
Wenyon,   M.D.,  pp.   234,  235,   236. 


IRKUTSK  115 

the  paleontological  monster  mammals  col- 
lected from  the  paludal  plains  of  polar  Si- 
beria and  preserved  in  her  museums.  If  this 
hypothesis  be  correct,  then,  like  the  marsu- 
pial kangaroo,  whose  former  companions  are 
extinct,  leaving  them  behind  as  living  sur- 
vivals, they  certainly  deserve  exact  and  ex- 
haustive investigation.  Would  it  not  be 
wise  for  the  government  to  establish  in  the 
University  of  Tomsk  a  new  chair  for  such 
an  interesting  study?  Transient  travelers, 
such  as  we  were,  dare  to  hope  that,  like  the 
celebrated  ''Last  Rose  of  Summer,"  those 
Russian  holidays  are  numbered.  At  all 
events  they  turned  out  to  be  a  great  nui- 
sance, especially  when  a  traveler  needs  to 
call  upon  his  banker  or  to  make  needful  pur- 
chases. How  long  would  an  American 
public  refrain  from  grumbling  if  all  stores 
in  New  York  were  closed  not  only  on  Sun- 
days but  also  often  on  three  other  days  of 
the  week?  This  was  the  case  during  our 
stay  in  Irkutsk.  Wednesday  celebrated  the 
Tsar's  birthday,  Thursday  was  Ascension 
Day,  and  Saturday  commemorated  the  Re- 
moval of  the  Bones  of  Saint  Nicholas.  "Who 
cares  a  fig  for  'Old  Nick'  or  his  dry  bones?" 
some  one  may  ask.  Doubtless  a  mighty 
chorus  of  children,  with  vivid  visions  of 
Christmas  joy,  would  vigorously  protest 
against  any  intended  slight  to  their  patron 
saint,  but  their  exasperated  elders  would 


116  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

gladly  eliminate  this  holiday  and  most  em- 
phatically extenuate  any  apparent  profana- 
tion of  Saint  Nicholas. 

America,  it  has  been  argued  for  years,  has 
needed  more  holidays,  but  not  Russia.  There 
a  rigid  excision  is  demanded.  "Business  be- 
fore pleasure"  is  certainly  not  a  Russian 
maxim  so  long  as  nearly  one  half  of  the 
three  hundred  and  sixty-five  days  on  the 
Russian  calendar  are  officially  devoted  to 
idleness,  often  culminating  in  beastly  drunk- 
enness. A  Russian  holiday  is  a  pathetic 
sight.  The  joyous  spontaneity  of  most  other 
races  is  missing. 

National  Sesames 

The  popular  sayings  of  a  country  often 
indicate  a  national  characteristic.  "Step 
lively,  please!"  of  the  New  York  subway  at 
once  shows  American  push.  "Man-man- 
tsou!" — "Walk  slowly!" — of  the  Chinese  in- 
dicates the  leisurely  dignity  of  the  Wise 
Men  of  the  East.  "Mariana,"  or  "To-morrow," 
of  the  Spaniard  betrays  the  decided  prefer- 
ence of  the  hidalgo  for  his  beloved  siesta 
before  exerting  himself.  So  Russia  has  its 
significant,  characteristic  phrase.  "Nich- 
evo!"  or  "No  matter!"  ever  recurring  on 
Slavic  lips,  reveals  the  inert,  gloomy,  credu- 
lous temperament  of  Russia's  grim-visaged 
millions.  How  can  a  people  ever  be  really 
happy  when  a  system  of  espionage,  like  a 


IRKUTSK  117 

threatening  thundercloud,  ever  hangs  over 
them,  while  Ignorance,  with  her  twin  sister, 
Superstition,  darkens  their  sky?  Nowhere 
in  the  vast  Muscovite  empire  does  one  see 
the  hearty  good  nature  of  the  Chinese  or 
Anglo-Saxon,  nor  the  spontaneous  vivacity 
of  the  Japanese  or  French.  Melancholy  is 
as  plainly  marked  on  the  Russian  physiog- 
nomy as  are  the  white  streaks  to  Siva  or 
Vishnu  daubed  on  the  forehead  of  the  fana- 
tic Hindu.  Spasmodic  hilarity,  stimulated 
by  governmental  vodka,  reacts  and  depresses 
the  moujik,  as  does  fire  water  the  aboriginal 
Aino  of  Japan  and  the  Indian  of  America. 
Search  as  we  may  the  musty  archives  of 
the  past,  still  nowhere  in  history  can  be 
found  such  a  record  of  high  moral  purpose, 
so  persistently  and  consistently  pursued, 
as  China  furnishes  to-day.  China  is  hero- 
ically stamping  out  the  opium  curse,  re- 
gardless of  the  annual  deficit  of  millions  to 
her  revenue.  Nowhere  in  Siberia  does  one 
see  anything  approaching  the  jolly  disposi- 
tion so  characteristic  of  the  American  Negro, 
whose  good-nature  bubbles  up  and  flows  over, 
even  in  the  midst  of  hard  toil.  On  the  Mis- 
sissippi, when  the  large  steamer  hugs  the 
bank  for  fresh  supplies  of  firewood,  the 
African  deckhand  rushes  ashore,  seizes  his 
load,  quickly  returns  and  piles  it  up  high  on 
the  steamer's  deck.  All  the  while  drops  of 
sweat  drip  from  his  brow.  Still  he  keeps  on 


118  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

singing  and  keeping  time  to  some  popular 
plantation  melody.  In  the  evening  this  same 
exuberant  happiness  vents  itself  in  an  ex- 
temporized concert. 

"Mister,  let  me  tell  you, 
When  the  music  starts, 
Hum,  hum,  I  can't  keep  still. 
There's  a  feeling  in  my  feet 
Like  Saint  Vitus  dance, 
Although  it  am  against  my  will. 
I  am  trying  mighty  hard 
For  to  concentrate. 
Hum,  hum,  what  shall  I  do? 
The  music  sets  me  going 
Like  a  jumping-jack. 
I've  got  to  dance 
Until  the  band  gets  through." 

This  national  trait  of  sluggish,  apathetic 
sadness,  so  universal  and  tragic,  weighs 
heavily  upon  the  dense,  dull  mass  of  hu- 
manity throughout  the  Russian  dominions. 
Even  the  gentle-spirited  Whittier  feels 
forced  to  write : 

Fell  spider  of  the  North, 
Stretching  thy  great  feelers  forth, 
Within  whose  web,  the  freedom  dies 
Of  nations  eaten  up,  as  flies. 

Finland 

But  what  shall  we  say  of  the  acute  pangs 
of  woe  now  gripping  the  hearts  of  the  wide- 
awake, liberty-loving  nation  of  Finland? 
Their  constitutional  rights — more  highly 
prized  than  life  itself — have  been  ruthlessly 


IRKUTSK  119 

trampled  under  foot.  Is  it  possible  that  to- 
day lives  any  loyal  Finn  who  could  find  even 
a  particle  of  pure  joy  in  any  one  of  these 
superfluous  Kussian  holidays?  Fast  days, 
when  they  might  call  upon  the  God  of  na- 
tions for  vengeance,  they  would  gladly  wel- 
come. Finland's  lament  rends  the  heavens : 

If  I  forget  thee,  O  Helsingfors, 

Let  my  right  hand  forget  her  cunning! 

If  I  do  not  remember  thee, 

Let  my  tongue  cleave  to  the  roof  of  my  mouth! 

If  I  prefer  not  Helsingfors  above  my  chief  joy! 

Shopping 

Toward  the  further  end  of  the  popular 
"Great  Street"  we  came  to  a  crowded  depart- 
ment store,  employing  some  two  hundred 
salesmen  and  women.  Here  we  purchased  a 
few  useful  and  ornamental  articles,  such  as 
fancy  fans  and  a  genuine  Russian  leather 
pocketbook.  This  latter  souvenir,  whether 
stuffed  full  of  bank  notes  and  coin  or  not, 
is  a  thing  of  beauty  and  highly  prized  by  its 
owner  even  to  this  day.  Marshall  Jewell, 
when  American  Minister  to  Russia,  found 
out  in  1873  the  secret  process  of  making  this 
celebrated  Russian  leather.  The  skin  used 
is  that  of  goats  or  sheep.  The  leather  is 
usually  black  or  red.  The  latter  shade  is 
produced  by  alum  and  a  decoction  of  Brazil 
and  sandalwood ;  the  former  by  a  solution 
of  iron  and  sandalwood.  Russian  leather  is 


120  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

very  tough,  pliant,  and  waterproof,  and  has 
a  peculiar  faculty  for  resisting  moisture 
and  ravages  of  insects.  The  strong,  pene- 
trating odor  is  due  to  the  oil  of  birch  used 
in  its  preparation. 

Shops 

KOJAKH 

(pronounced  "Kodaky")  was  a  frequent  sign 
before  many  stores,  showing  that  this  East- 
man product  from  Eochester,  New  York,  was 
busy  having  its  films  imprinted  with  many 
strange  Siberian  sights.  The  clarity  of  the 
atmosphere,  resembling  that  of  Denver,  Colo- 
rado, is  especially  adapted  to  photography, 
as  was  evidenced  by  the  numerous  photo 
studios,  exhibiting  excellent  specimens  of  the 
art. 

Fruit  stores,  generally  managed  by  Ar- 
menians, were  located  in  cellars,  where  the 
perishable  produce  from  distant,  milder 
climes  would  not  be  so  readily  damaged  by 
the  weather.  This  fruit,  for  the  most  part, 
comes  by  rail  from  Astrakhan,  Caucasia, 
Crimea,  and  other  districts  of  south  Kussia. 
We  found  the  apples,  oranges,  and  figs  ex- 
cellent, but  not  cheap.  Fine-flavored,  crisp 
apples  cost  five  cents  or  more  (United  States 


IRKUTSK  121 

gold)  apiece.  We  were  commenting  upon 
the  fine  quality  of  this  fruit  in  the  hearing 
of  our  clerical  friend,  when  he  asked  us 
whether  we  had  noticed  the  fruit  trees  in  his 
yard  near  the  church.  He  stated  that  those 
trees  blossomed  every  summer,  but  the  sum- 
mer season  is  so  short  that  the  frost  nipped 
the  apples  when  they  were  no  larger  than 
peas. 

At  Irkutsk  we  did  not  succeed  in  finding 
any  "Saint  Charles  Cream,"  but  bought  two 
tins  of  "Henri  Nestle's  Viking  Unsweetened 
Milk,"  made  at  Copenhagen,  Denmark.  The 
price  of  this  purchase  here,  as  in  many  an- 
other store  in  Siberia  and  Russia,  was  indi- 
cated by  the  familiar  click  and  figures  of  a 
"Cash  Register,"  made  at  Dayton,  Ohio. 

Street  Strolls 

One  bright  morning  we  sauntered  south- 
ward down  a  broad  avenue,  opening  on  the 
Great  Street,  and  came  in  front  of  a  large 
wrooden  arch,  erected  in  the  middle  of  the 
thoroughfare.  Overhead  we  read  this  in- 
scription, ''This  way  to  the  Great  Ocean," 
with  the  dates  1858*  and  1891.  Evidently  it 
had  served  its  day  by  pointing  out  the  way 
to  adventurous  pioneers,  before  the  iron  road 
binding  the  Pacific  with  the  Atlantic  was 
started  in  1891.  Climbing  up  a  steep  ascent, 
a  short  distance  beyond  this  memorial  arch, 
we  came  to  a  cemetery  with  its  mortuary 


122  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

chapel.  Looking  around,  we  saw  a  funeral 
procession  just  beginning  to  enter  the  in- 
closure.  Women  carrying  the  cover  of  a 
coffin,  piled  with  flowers,  preceded  a  party 
of  men,  carrying  the  bier,  which  also  was 
covered  with  flowers.  All  soon  climbed  up 
the  broad  steps  into  the  chapel,  where 
candles  were  lit  and  the  last  rites  performed 
by  the  officiating  priest. 

Another  morning  we  strolled  up  a  fre- 
quented street  in  a  northerly  direction,  which 
brought  us  to  the  massive  Cathedral  and  the 
extensive  square  around  it.  Its  northern 
side  is  flanked  by  a  beautiful  park,  furnish- 
ing an  outlook  on  where  the  river  Irkut, 
from  which  the  city  takes  its  name,  empties 
into  the  Angara.  On  our  way  we  passed  a 
number  of  school  buildings  and  academies, 
various  government  buildings,  a  brick  Ro- 
man Catholic  church,  and  numerous  Greek 
churches.  We  entered  a  number  of  these  on 
Sundays,  holidays,  and  at  other  times. 

Church  Music 

Generally,  in  Greek  churches  the  choir  is 
composed  entirely  of  male  voices,  but  we 
entered  one  Greek  church  here  where  there 
were  female  voices  of  wonderful  sweetness 
and  compass,  but  in  all  Greek  church  choirs 
vocal  music  is  an  integral  unifying  element, 
permeating  the  entire  public  worship.  This 
Greek  church  music  bv  trained  human  voices 


IRKUTSK  123 

possesses  a  distinctive  quality  of  deep,  fas- 
cinating richness,  irresistibly  thrilling.  In 
its  way  it  stands  in  a  class  apart  by  itself. 
These  singers  dauntlessly  take  up  the  gaunt- 
let of  "Voice  and  Verse"  thrown  down  by 
the  poet : 

Blest  pair  of  Sirens,  pledges  of  heaven's  joys; 

Sphere-born  harmonious  sisters,  Voice  and  Verse! 

Wed  your  divine  sounds  and  mixed  power  employ, 

Dead  things  with  inbreathed  sense  able  to  pierce 

And  to  our  high-raised  phantasy  present 

That  undisturbed  song  of  pure  concent 

Aye  sung  before  the  sapphire-colored  throne 

To  Him,  that  sits  thereon, 

With  saintly  shout  and  solemn  jubilee.1 

The  quality  of  this  music  is  unapproachable. 
The  very  select  and  exceedingly  popular 
Bach  motets,  which  draw  the  crowds  to  the 
Saint  Thomas  Church  at  Leipzig,  the  highly 
lauded  sacred  music  during  Holy  Week  in 
the  vast  cathedral  at  Toledo,  Spain,  or  in 
the  Sistine  Chapel,  Rome,  fail  to  surpass  it. 

Its  motif  varies  radically  from  that  prev- 
alent in  the  short,  choppy  songs  and  hymns 
of  so  many  of  our  Protestant  services,  which 
are  often  mere 

Short  swallow-flights  of  song,  that  dip 
Their  wings  in  tears  and  fly  away. 

On  the  contrary,  these  uplifting,  full  notes 
of  the  Russian  church  service  are  broad 

1  Milton,  Ode,   "At  a   Solemn  Muslck." 


124  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

mighty  sweeps,  as  of  eagles  in  their  skyward, 
cloud-piercing  flights,  once  enjoyed,  ever 
afterward  cherished. 

In  one  Greek  church  referred  to  at  Irkutsk 
the  service  was  in  progress,  where  the  sing- 
ing of  a  remarkably  sweet-voiced  choir,  as 
of  devout  nuns,  was  deliciously  rich.  In  im- 
agination we  could  almost  fancy  that  these 
pure  souls  were  being  wafted  to  celestial 
heights.  There  they  seemed  to  join  the 
angelic  choirs,  singing  "the  song  of  Moses 
and  of  the  Lamb."  \Ye  could  almost  catch 
their  high,  fluid  notes  of  loving  adoration 
to  the  Lamb  of  God,  ravishingly  reverberat- 
ing through  the  corridors  of  heaven.  As, 
entranced,  we  listened  to  these  rhapsodies  of 
song,  it  seemed  as  though  their  voices 
blended  in  ecstatic  antiphony,  as  in  days 
past  did  their  sisters,  who  on  the  banks  of 
the  Ked  Sea,  under  the  direction  of  Miriam, 
praised  Jehovah,  all  harmonizing  in  the  deep 
diapason  of  the  multitudinous  male  voices  in 
emphasizing  with  great  joy  the  power  of  God. 
Their  wondrously  rapturous  strains  rose  in 
perfect  unison,  higher  and  fuller,  until  all 
heaven  resounded  with  the  overwhelmingly 
sonorous  and  ineffably  sublime  Hallelujah 
Chorus,  "as  it  were  the  voice  of  a  great  mul- 
titude and  as  the  voice  of  many  waters,  and 
as  the  voice  of  mighty  thunders,  saying, 

Hallelujah!    For  the  Lord  God, 

Omnipotent,  relgneth!" 


IRKUTSK  125 

Churches 

In  another  church  we  came  upon  a  few 
poorly  clad  scrub-women  hard  at  work, 
sweeping  and  dusting.  They  would  first 
cross  themselves,  kneel  down  and  kiss  the 
sacred  pictures,  and  afterward  cleanse  them, 
illustrating  George  Herbert's  lines: 

A  servant  with  this  clause 

Makes  drudgery  divine; 
Who  sweeps  a  room  as  for  Thy  laws 

Makes  that  and  th*  action  fine. 

Inside  this  church,  not  far  from  the  en- 
trance, was  a  large  case  in  which  were 
displayed  various  sacred  objects  for  sale. 
We  bought  a  package  of  gilded  card  icons 
of  the  Madonna,  as  souvenirs. 

The  extensive  Cathedral  Square  is  the 
rendezvous  for  cheap-jack  shows,  wild-beast 
exhibitions,  merry-go-rounds,  candy-sellers, 
and  knickknack  hawkers  of  every  description. 
One  part  of  this  square  is  reserved  for  the 
Cossack  cavalry.  Here  can  be  witnessed 
daring  equestrian  exercises  of  these  troopers, 
sights  especially  exciting  to  the  small  boy, 
and  always  drawing  large  crowds.  The 
hurdle  practice  of  these  Cossack  horsemen 
might  well  challenge  the  equine  feats  of 
Roosevelt's  Rough  Riders. 

Schools 

The  commodious  school  buildings  show 
how  highly  Irkutsk  prizes  education.  Addi- 


126  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

tional  proof  is  adduced  from  the  fact  that 
this  city  sets  aside  ten  per  cent  of  its  annual 
income  for  educational  purposes. 

On  one  walk  we  passed  a  bevy  of  school- 
girls, chaperoned  by  their  teacher,  marching 
along  the  sidewalk.  They  were  all  dressed 
in  a  uniform  and  wore  white  aprons  and 
black  felt  hats.  Many  peasant  women,  whom 
we  saw  on  the  street,  wore  aprons  of  black 
or  in  colors,  and  all  had  their  hair  neatly 
wrapped  in  scarfs,  usually  white. 

Excursion  to  Monastery 

One  day  the  air  was  so  stifling  hot  that 
the  least  exertion  proved  a  weariness  to  the 
flesh,  and,  since  we  were  warmly  dressed, 
brought  out  the  perspiration.  At  the  same 
time,  as  if  to  add  insult  to  injury,  a  regular 
North-China  dust-storm  overtook  us,  pursu- 
ing us  with  relentless  fury,  as  if  riotously 
exulting  in  its  successful  effort  to  find  us  so 
far  away  from  our  Chinese  home  and  wan- 
tonly scattering  its  fine  dirt  and  dust  in  our 
faces. 

Another  time  we  were  strolling  with  other 
holiday-makers  along  the  Great  Street  to- 
ward the  Riverine  Park,  where  stands  the 
lofty  statue  of  Tsar  Alexander  III.  With- 
out warning  a  rain-squall  scattered  the 
crowd,  who  scuffled  away  for  shelter,  while 
we  hailed  an  isvoslichik,  and  rode  in  his 
drosky  to  our  hotel.  But  on  the  morning  on 


IRKUTSK  127 

which  we  started  on  our  excursion  to  the 
Monastery  of  Saint  Innocent  the  day  was 
perfect.  Light  clouds  were  lazily  scudding 
over  the  deep  azure  sky,  and  the  air  was 
crisp  and  bracing.  Many  a  time,  as  we  were 
wandering  around  Cathedral  Square  and 
along  the  river  bank,  we  had  cast  longing 
eyes  on  the  distant  white  domes  and  towers 
of  this  monastery  silhouetted  on  the  horizon, 
and  especially  alluring  when  gilded  by  the 
golden  glow  of  the  setting  sun.  So  we 
planned  to  make  an  excursion  thither.  In 
all  Irkutsk  there  was  only  one  German- 
speaking  drosky-driver,  and  we  engaged  him 
the  evening  before  to  be  at  our  hotel  at  nine 
o'clock  the  following  morning.  He  was  true 
to  his  word,  and  proved  eager  to  explain  ob- 
jects and  incidents  on  the  way.  A  short  ride 
through  the  city  brought  us  to  the  steep 
bank  by  the  ferry.  Our  driver  safely  de- 
scended the  declivity  and  boarded  the  ferry- 
boat, stationing  us  amid  a  motley  collection 
of  vehicles,  both  elegant  and  shabby.  Be- 
sides carriages  and  droskies  there  were 
"telegas,"  or  basketlike  buckboards,  while 
one  peasant's  wagon  had  a  drygoods  box 
with  a  board,  on  which  sat  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Moujik.  The  charge  for  ferriage  was  sixteen 
kopeks.  The  motive  power  was  the  swift 
current  of  the  Angara,  for  a  strong  chain, 
supported  by  buoys  and  small  boats  and 
anchored  in  the  middle  of  the  river  several 


128  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

rods  upstream,  allowed  the  ferryboat  to 
sway  at  the  option  of  the  pilot  from  one 
bank  to  the  other.  A  short  distance  above 
the  ferry  the  muddy  Irkut  was  painting  a 
broad  brownish  fringe  along  the  further 
side  of  the  crystal  Angara,  as  does  the  turbid 
Arno  the  lucid  waters  of  the  arrowy  Rhone 
below  Rousseau's  Isle.  Scattered  blocks  of 
ice  from  Lake  Baikal  were  now  and  then  to 
be  seen  floating  down  the  stream.  In  some 
respects  the  drive  across  country  reminded 
us  of  the  flat  Hackensack  meadows  in  New 
Jersey.  There  were  numerous  cross-streams, 
canals,  and  watercourses,  over  which  wooden 
bridges  were  thrown.  Immediately  after 
reaching  higher  ground  we  entered  a  small 
village,  stretched  out  on  one  long  street,  like 
some  Canadian  settlements  near  Montmo- 
renci  Falls,  Quebec.  Every  other  house 
seemed  to  be  a  tiny  grocery  shop.  Near  the 
northern  end  stood  the  monastery,  guarded 
by  its  high  walls  and  a  belfry,  where  hung 
the  bells,  tier  on  tier,  the  larger  below. 

This  monastery  was  erected  in  memory  of 
Saint  Innocent,  a  Greek  priest  eminent  for 
his  successful  missionary  labors  in  Siberia. 
After  his  wife's  death  he  was  accorded  the 
high  honor  of  being  appointed  by  Philaret, 
the  Metropolitan  of  Moscow,  as  the  archi- 
mandrite of  the  wealthy,  influential  Troitsa 
Monastery  near  Moscow.  Troitsa  Monastery 
had  been  famous  as  a  monastic  stronghold, 


IRKUTSK  129 

impregnable  against  the  attacks  of  Tartars, 
Poles,  and  French.  Like  Castle  San  Angelo 
and  Orvieto  in  Italy,  it  had  served  as  a  safe 
place  of  refuge  for  the  rulers  of  the  land  in 
times  of  uprising  or  invasion. 

The  usual  procedure  for  a  priest  who  be- 
came a  widower  was  either  to  leave  the 
clergy  or  become  a  monk.  Innocent,  enthu- 
siastically engaged  in  his  good  work  away 
off  in  the  wilds  of  Siberia,  refused  to  become 
a  monk,  and  so  declined  the  tempting  offer 
to  be  archimandrite  of  that  rich  monastery. 
As  a  priest  he  continued  faithfully  to  min- 
ister to  the  unchurched  Siberian  settlers, 
who  deeply  loved  him  while  he  lived  and 
highly  cherished  his  memory  when  he  died. 
Innocent  declared  that  because  a  priest's 
wife  had  died,  to  cease  to  be  a  priest  or  to 
become  a  monk  "was  more  a  custom  than  a 
canon."  This  laconic  epigram  startled,  as 
by  a  thunderclap,  the  mechanical  scruples 
of  the  monks,  but  among  the  more  enlight- 
ened class  awakened  an  approving  response. 

Leaving  a  native  in  charge  of  our  drosky 
and  wraps,  our  driver  acted  as  guide,  and 
showed  us  around  the  premises.  Services 
were  going  on  in  the  church,  which  we  as- 
cended by  a  high  flight  of  cast-iron  steps. 
We  trod  upon  many  cast-iron  slabs,  inscribed 
with  epitaphs  laid  in  the  pavement  of  the 
church  floor.  We  watched  the  service  soon 
drawing  to  a  close,  witnessed  a  priest  giving 


130  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

communion  wafers  to  a  few  children,  and 
admired  the  seraphic  singing  of  a  boy  choir, 
assisting  the  priests. 

At  the  close  of  the  service  a  crowd  of  dev- 
otees quickly  gathered  before  a  handsomely 
embroidered  golden  canopy  near  the  center 
of  the  church.  Here  on  an  elevated  dais  was 
a  richly  decorated  casket  with  its  lid  off, 
said  to  contain  the  bones  of  Saint  Innocent. 
Behind  this  casket  sat  a  priest,  clothed  in 
elaborate  yellow  robes  and  busy  tearing 
cotton-batting  into  shreds.  The  devotees 
first  climbed  on  their  knees  up  the  front 
steps,  kissing  each  step  on  the  way  up.  Ar- 
riving on  the  upper  platform,  they  stood 
erect,  then  one  by  one  reverently  bent  over 
and  devoutly  kissed  the  bones  of  the  saint 
and  deposited  coins,  when  the  priest  handed 
each  a  small  bit  of  the  cotton.  Our  driver 
advised  us  to  follow  suit,  but  we  preferred 
simply  to  hand  the  priest  in  charge  a  small 
"douceur,"  which  seemed  to  satisfy  him,  for 
he  presented  us  with  bits  of  the  blessed  cot- 
ton the  same  as  the  rest. 

Scattered  through  the  gardens  of  the 
monastery  were  various  other  buildings, 
large  and  small,  more  or  less  connected  with 
the  life  of  this  local  though  famous  saint. 
The  hovel  in  which  he  is  said  to  have  lived 
and  a  sort  of  antiquated  chariot,  in  which 
he  rode  forth  on  his  errands  of  mercy,  were 
shown  us. 


IRKUTSK  131 


A  Pious  Fraud 


After  our  return  to  the  city  we  were  re- 
lating to  our  Lutheran  friend  our  experi- 
ences at  this  monastery,  when  he  regaled  us 
with  an  account  of  a  recent  pious  fraud, 
which  had  greatly  stirred  up  society  in  this 
out-of-the-way  Siberian  city.  It  seems  that 
during  the  Russo-Japanese  War  a  corporal 
named  Xassili  Sytchewa,  of  the  285th  In- 
fantry, deserted  from  his  regiment  on  the 
Manchurian  battlefield  and  fled  to  Irkutsk. 
Pretending  to  be  so  seriously  wounded  that 
he  could  not  walk,  he  was  ordered  to  the 
military  hospital  at  Irkutsk.  He  had  his 
legs  and  head  wrapped  around  with  band- 
ages. Disguised  in  this  style,  he  had  his 
photograph  taken  with  a  Sister  of  Charity 
at  his  side,  administering  medicine.  On 
several  nights  he  was  detected  walking 
stealthily  about  in  the  dimly  lighted  room. 
It  happened  about  this  time,  1905,  a  great 
religious  festival  occurred,  commemorating 
the  centennial  of  the  burial  of  Saint  Inno- 
cent. Availing  himself  of  this  event,  this 
renegade  managed  to  have  himself  conveyed 
to  their  monastery,  where  he  kissed  the  bones 
of  Saint  Innocent.  Instantly  his  strength 
returned,  so  he  threw  away  his  crutches. 
The  nurses  and  doctors  who  were  cognizant 
of  his  knavery  in  the  hospital  made  loud  and 
frequent  protests  against  his  misrepresenta- 


132  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

tions,  but  apparently  to  no  avail.  Furnished 
with  funds,  this  runaway  succeeded  in  hav- 
ing himself  sent  to  Saint  Petersburg,  where 
he  was  granted  a  private  audience  with  the 
Tsar.  He  presented  to  his  Majesty  the  affi- 
davit of  the  monks  of  the  Monastery  of  Saint 
Innocent,  affirming  his  miraculous  cure 
through  the  efficacy  of  the  bones  of  their 
favorite  saint.  After  the  imperial  sanction, 
these  monks  had  printed  thousands  of  leaf- 
lets, narrating  the  incident,  which  were  scat- 
tered broadcast.  One  of  these  was  shown 
us.  The  nurses  at  the  hospital — many  of 
whom  belonged  to  the  upper  classes  of 
Irkutsk,  who  had  loyally  volunteered  their 
services  during  the  war — were  amazed  at  the 
credulity  of  so  many  of  their  cultured  asso- 
ciates, who  could  swallow  whole  such  an  im- 
position with  as  much  avidity  as  the  igno- 
rant, gullible  rabble. 

Marriage  Hindrances 

One  day,  as  in  company  with  our  Lutheran 
friend  we  were  strolling  along  a  business 
street,  we  stepped  into  a  large,  well-stocked 
furniture  shop  and,  finding  the  proprietor 
in,  he  entered  into  a  lively  conversation  with 
him.  This  Russian  was  a  sturdy,  well- 
favored  man  of  the  Protestant  persuasion. 
Presently  he  left  us,  going  out  of  the  rear 
door  of  his  shop,  but  soon  returned,  bring- 
ing with  him  a  handsome  woman  of  the 


IRKUTSK  133 

Murillo  Madonna  type — modest  and  comely. 
It  was  a  case  where  the  course  of  true  love 
did  not  run  smooth.  This  furniture  dealer, 
a  Protestant,  had  fallen  in  love  with  this 
beautiful  Jewess,  whom  we  had  just  seen. 
An  old  law  of  the  city  requires  that  such  a 
marriage  must  be  performed  publicly  in  a 
Protestant  church,  at  which  time  usually  an 
unruly  rabble  fill  the  church  to  make  sport. 
However,  a  merciful  proviso  exists  whereby 
this  publicity  may  be  avoided.  Such  a  wed- 
ding may  be  private,  provided  the  Jewess 
can  procure  a  physician's  certificate  to  the 
effect  that  such  a  public  spectacle  would 
make  her  nervous.  This  legal  hitch  to  their 
courtship  had  just  been  removed.  Their 
joyous  faces  showed  clearer  than  any  words 
that  the  coveted  physician's  certificate  had 
been  promised,  so  that  their  future  bliss  was 
now  assured. 

Friendship  of  Russians  and  Americans 

Russia  is  an  autocratic  beaurocracy. 
America,  we  boast,  is  "the  land  of  the  free." 
Somehow  or  other  Russians1  seem  to  exhibit 
a  very  cordial  friendship  toward  Americans. 
Senator  Beveridge  traces  this  spontaneous 
friendship  to  the  complimentary  resolution 
passed  by  Congress  and  conveyed  by  special 
envoy  to  Emperor  Alexander  II  on  account 
of  his  liberating  the  Russian  serfs.  Then  he 
expatiates  as  follows:  "America  and  Russia 


134  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

have  always  been  friendly.  The  American 
people  are  a  young  people,  and  the  Russian 
regards  himself  as  quite  as  young  a  man  as 
the  American.  The  American  has  'go-ahead' 
in  his  make-up.  The  American  'gets  things 
done.'  That  is  what  the  Russian  admires, 
and  he  likes  to  think  that  he  is  doing  the 
same  thing.  So  there  is  natural  friendship 
on  the  part  of  Russians  for  Americans."1 

The  American,  on  his  part,  highly  esteems 
the  Russian  for  the  timely  sympathy  and 
moral  support  of  Alexander  II,  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1863,  when  he  sent  his  fleet,  under 
Admiral  LissofFski,  into  the  harbor  of  New 
York,  while  we  were  engaged  in  a  life-and- 
death  struggle  for  our  existence  as  a  nation. 

When  darkness  hid  the  starry  skies 

In  war's  long  winter  night, 
One  ray  still  cheered  our  straining  eyes, 

The  far-off  Northern  Light. 

Every  American  feels  deeply  indebted  to 
Russia  for  her  diplomatic  foresight  in  dis- 
posing of  Russian  America  before  our  mani- 
fest destiny  should  have  driven  her  off 
American  soil,  as  was  the  fate  of  Spain. 
Moreover,  Americans,  endued  with  intui- 
tive Yankee  business  shrewdness,  appreciate 
more  highly  every  passing  year  Russia's  un- 
bounded liberality  in  pouring  into  Uncle 
Sam's  lap  such  an  untold  wealth  of  precious 
gold,  copper,  coal,  and  seals,  to  say  nothing 

1  The  Russian  Advance,  by  Albert  J.  Beveridge,  p    252. 


IRKUTSK  135 

of  her  inestimable  good  will,  manifested  by 
the  transfer  of  Alaska  to  the  United  States. 
Of  course  Senator  Beveridge,  as  an  intelli- 
gent, loyal  American,  deeply  realized  all 
this,  but  doubtless,  on  account  of  his  official 
position,  felt  constrained  from  making  any 
public  statement  on  this  point. 

Then,  again,  it  is  patent  to  all  that  to  the 
oppressed,  outraged  millions,  smarting  under 
the  knout  of  Russian  beaurocracy,  America 
stands  as  a  symbol  for  freedom.  Naturally, 
he  regards  all  Americans  whom  he  chances 
to  meet  as  representatives  of  such  freedom, 
and  cordially  treats  them  as  though  they 
were  intimate,  sympathetic  friends.  A  Rus- 
sian business  man,  who  had  shown  us  several 
acts  of  kindness  in  Moscow,  requested  us  on 
parting  to  give  him  our  address  in  America. 
On  inquiring  the  reason,  he  replied  that  he 
might  want  to  call  on  us  in  America  within 
a  few  years,  when  he  should  come  over  there 
to  live. 

Besides,  there  are  perhaps  other  impal- 
pable but,  nevertheless,  powerful  influences, 
which  irresistibly  attract  each  to  other.  We 
are  inclined  to  believe  the  fact  that  both  the 
Russian  and  American  are  consciously  proud 
of  belonging  to  a  big  country,  each  having  to 
work  out  its  own  "manifest  destiny,"  and 
the  further  fact  that  we  are  both  Pacific 
neighbors,  all  of  which  tends  to  increase  this 
sincere,  unbounded  friendliness. 


136  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

A  British  journalist  noticed  this  peculiar 
trait  in  the  make-up  of  the  Russians,  as  he 
traveled  in  company  with  some  Americans 
from  Peking  to  Saint  Petersburg,  a  pecu- 
liarity which  he  tried  to  explain  by  Ameri- 
cans having  donated  famine-relief  funds. 
This  Britisher  acknowledges  that  he  was 
treated  civilly,  but  he  naively  records  how 
the  Russians  "display  a  special  amount  of 
cordiality  and  friendship  to  America  and 
Americans."1 

Such  was  our  experience  nearly  three 
decades  ago,  when  we  lodged  at  Vladivostok 
in  the  home  of  a  Russian  naval  officer.  This 
Russian  officer  seemed  especially  glad  to  find 
one  from  the  land  of  freedom  to  whom  he 
could  open  his  heart  and  freely  pour  out  his 
tales  of  grievance  in  regard  to  the  unseemly 
conduct  and  graft  among  the  Russian  no- 
bility. So  at  this  German-speaking  Russian's 
home  at  Irkutsk  we  were  invited  to  after- 
noon coffee,  where  we  had  the  privilege  of 
meeting  other  German-speaking  Russians, 
where  incidents  were  related  and  photo- 
graphs shown  exhibiting  interesting  inci- 
dents of  actual  Siberian  life. 

On  the  last  evening  of  our  stay  at  Irkutsk 
we  accepted  an  invitation  to  dine  at  the  resi- 
dence of  a  physician.  His  home  was  built  in 
a  pine  forest  on  a  hillside  in  the  Glasgow  sub- 

1  From  Peking  to  Petersburg,  by  Arnot  Reid,  pp. 
210,  211. 


IRKUTSK  137 

urb,  across  the  Angara.  The  dwelling  was  a 
capacious  bungalow,  compactly  built  of  logs, 
with  their  sawn  ends  projecting  at  the  cor- 
ners, as  in  our  quaint,  old-fashioned  Hotel 
Metropole.  The  interior,  however,  revealed 
an  air  of  comfort,  if  not  luxury.  A  grand 
piano,  a  gramophone,  large  canary  cages  full 
of  the  yellow  songsters,  bric-a-brac,  etc., 
showed  the  taste  of  the  mistress  of  the  house, 
who  was  temporarily  absent  on  a  visit  in 
Russia  proper.  Her  photograph,  which  the 
doctor  so  proudly  showed  us,  displayed  the 
features  of  a  handsome  lady,  who  would 
grace  and  charm  any  family  circle  or  social 
gathering.  His  private  library  was  well 
stocked  with  books,  chiefly  in  Russian,  Ger- 
man, and  English,  for  he  had  studied  medi- 
cine in  London. 

In  company  with  the  doctor's  brother,  we 
bade  good-by  a  little  after  9  p.  MV  but  it  was 
not  yet  very  dark,  and  we  strolled  through 
the  pine  grove  out  to  the  main  street  and 
across  the  railway  and  pontoon  bridges  to 
Irkutsk,  where  we  hired  a  drosky  and  re- 
turned to  our  hotel,  without  the  excitement 
of  any  garroting  experience  to  relate. 

Books  and  the  Bible 

Several  times,  in  order  to  buy  postal  cards, 
photographs,  or  books,  we  had  stepped  in- 
side Makoushin's  immense  bookstore  on  the 
Great  Street.  Its  seven  large  plate-glass 


138  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

windows  made  as  grand  a  display  as  Scrib- 
ner's  or  Brentano's  on  Fifth  Avenue,  New 
York.  The  British  and  Foreign  Bible  So- 
ciety have  their  stock  stored  in  one  part  of 
this  mammoth  establishment.  Their  affable 
agent,  W.  Davidson,  chanced  to  arrive  in 
Irkutsk  while  we  were  there.  We  are  greatly 
indebted  to  him  for  much  valuable  informa- 
tion as  well  as  for  letters  of  introduction  to 
some  of  his  friends  at  Tomsk  and  elsewhere, 
which  he  volunteered  to  give  us.  He  highly 
recommended  the  quality  of  the  Eussian 
baths  in  Irkutsk,  saying  that  there  was  a 
superior  quality  in  the  waters  of  the  Angara 
River  which  made  these  cheap  ablutions  par- 
ticularly worth  taking.  He  also  enthusiasti- 
cally urged  us  to  take  the  all-water  route 
from  Tomsk  to  Tiumen  at  the  base  of  the 
Urals,  thence  by  rail  to  Perm  on  their  west- 
ern slope,  and  there  board  a  steamer  down 
the  Kama  to  the  Volga  and  proceed  direct  to 
Nijni-Novgorod.  However,  we  were  already 
provided  with  tickets  to  Samara  on  the 
Volga,  so  we  decided  to  postpone  such  an 
extended  excursion  by  water  until  a  later 
date. 

Unique  Honor  to  the  Bible 

Russia  surpasses  all  countries  in  the  high 
honor  which  it  renders  to  the  Bible.  It  is 
not  so  well  known  as  it  should  be,  that 
throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the 


IRKUTSK  139 

vast  Russian  empire,  the  Russian  govern- 
ment makes  no  charge  whatever  for  the 
transportation  by  steamer  or  rail  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures.  Honor  to  whom  honor  is 
due !  Neither  Christian  America  or  Europe, 
nor  non-Christian  China  or  Japan,  has  as  yet 
risen  to  such  a  high  degree  of  honoring  the 
Bible  "without  money  and  without  price." 
Surely  has  God  said  concerning  his  Word, 
"It  shall  not  return  unto  me  void,  but  it 
shall  accomplish  that  which  I  please,  and  it 
shall  prosper  in  the  thing  whereto  I  sent  it." 
Only  the  future  will  reveal  how  much  bless- 
ing this  praiseworthy  reverence  for  the  Word 
of  God  will  bring  to  Russia's  millions  trudg- 
ing wearily  along  the  path  of  life.  May  his 
Word  indeed  prove  to  them  all  "a  lamp  unto 
their  feet  and  a  light  unto  their  path !" 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  JEWS  IN  RUSSIA 

They  lived  In  narrow  streets  and  lanes  obscure, 
Ghettos  and  Judengass,  in  mirk  and  mire, 

Trained  In  the  school  of  patience  to  endure 
The  life  of  anguish  and  the  death  of  fire. 

— Longfellow. 

National  Contrasts 

SOME  will  doubtless  be  surprised  to  know 
that  Russian  laws  compel  all  Jews,  with  a 
few  specified  exceptions,  to  live  within  a 
restricted  area,  called  "The  Pale  of  Settle- 
ment." This  limited  territory  is  about  the 
size  of  France  and  consists  of  fifteen  prov- 
inces out  of  the  more  than  one  hundred  of 
the  Russian  empire.  This  land  was  allotted 
to  Russia  as  her  share  of  the  spoil  after  the 
political  crime  of  the  partition  of  Poland. 
As  far  as  the  east  is  from  the  west  is  the 
contrast  in  the  treatment  by  Russia  of  the 
Jewish  inhabitants  in  this  "Pale  of  Settle- 
ment" to  that  by  America  of  the  inhabitants 
of  the  Philippines.  As  spoils  of  war,  the 
Philippines  fell  into  the  lap  of  fair  Colum- 
bia, and  that  part  of  Poland  with  its  Jewish 
race  was  snatched  by  the  paws  of  huge 
Russia.  The  Russian  Hebrews  live  lives  of 
terror  and  torture.  The  Filipinos  enjoy  a 
140 


THE  JEWS  IN  RUSSIA  141 

widely  spread  system  of  popular  education 
and  are  being  trained  to  exercise  their  rights 
and  abilities  in  representative  government. 

Sowing  Dragon's  Teeth 

The  chief  restrictions  imposed  upon  the 
Jews  in  Russia  are  enumerated  in  the  fol- 
lowing list : 

1.  Compulsory  residence  within  the  "Pale 
of  Settlement,"  prohibiting  residence  in  vil- 
lages or  inside  of  fifty  versts   (thirty-three 
miles)  of  the  frontier. 

2.  Restricted  education. 

3.  Prohibition  to  sell  spirits   (a  govern- 
ment monopoly). 

4.  Closure   against    government    employ- 
ment, railway  and  postal  service,  higher  mili- 
tary rank,  and  from  the  navy. 

5.  Special  taxes,  applicable  only  to  Jews. 
There  are  these  exceptions  to  the  above : 

1.  Merchants,  who  are  members  of  guilds 
and  pay  an  annual  tax  of  about  $500  (United 
States  gold). 

2.  University  graduates  and  students  of 
higher  grades. 

3.  Nicolai  soldiers,  who  have  served  twenty- 
five  years. 

4.  Druggists,  dentists,  surgeons,  and  mid- 
wives. 

5.  Skilled  artisans,  supported  by  their  own 
handicraft. 

As  if  these  arbitrary  laws  were  not  suffi- 


142  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

ciently  harassing  and  cruel,  the  obnoxious 
May  laws  were  superimposed.  These  were 
proposed  by  General  Ignatieff,  and  adopted 
after  receiving  the  sanction  of  the  Tsar. 
Paragraph  III  serves  as  a  sample.  It  reads: 

"Jews  are  forbidden  to  transact  business 
on  Sundays  and  on  the  principal  Christian 
holidays.  The  existing  regulations  concern- 
ing the  closing  of  places  of  business  belong- 
ing to  Christians  on  such  days  shall  apply 
to  Jews  also." 

The  proportion  of  Jews  permitted  to  study 
in  an  institution  of  learning  was  curtailed 
in  many  places  to  five  per  cent,  and  in  Saint 
Petersburg  and  Moscow  to  three  per  cent. 

Reaping 

This  broadcast  sowing  of  dragon's  teeth 
is  already  beginning  to  bear  its  harvest: 

1.  Poverty,  by  being  forced  into  the  con- 
gested Ghettos  of  the  cities. 

2.  Ignorance,  with  its  criminal  retinue,  by 
being  debarred  from  education. 

3.  Political  helplessness,  by  being  excluded 
from  public  office  and  the  army  and  navy, 
thus  engendering  anarchy. 

4.  Last  but  not  least,  the  pogroms,  or  fana- 
tical massacres,  abetted  by  the  government. 
The  acts  of  these  frenzied  mobs  of  Russian 
Christians  resemble  those  attributed  to  the 
early  Pilgrims  in   their  dealings  with  the 
American  Indians: 


THE  JEWS  IN  RUSSIA  143 

They  first  fell  on  the  knees 
And  then  on  the  aborigines. 

"They  (that  is,  Orthodox  Russian  Chris- 
tians) went  to  work  with  the  holy  pictures 
in  their  hands,  crossing  themselves  and 
kneeling  in  prayer,  and  then  murdered  and 
robbed  mothers  with  infants  in  their  arms," 
witnesses  Leon  Rosenberg,  of  Odessa.1 

Samuel  Wilkinson,  in  his  exhaustive  study 
of  this  subject,  ascribes  as  the  motive  of  this 
inhuman  persecution  of  the  Jews,  "Russia's 
treatment  of  her  Jewish  subjects  was  simply 
a  matter  of  domestic  policy.  If  she  placed 
no  restrictions  upon  them,  she  knew  that  in 
the  struggle  for  existence  the  lethargic  na- 
tive-born would  go  to  the  wall  and  the  Jew 
come  out  on  top."2 

The  intense  gravity  of  this  Jewish  problem 
among  the  one  hundred  and  twenty  odd  races 
and  tribes  within  the  Russian  empire  is  ap- 
parent when  a  government  is  driven  to 
crowd  this  single  detested  race  of  5,000,000 
Hebrews  inside  the  arbitrary  artificial  bar- 
riers of  the  "Pale  of  Settlement."  Lord 
Curzon  sagely  remarks,  "The  Russian  system 
may  be  government,  but  cannot  be  called 
improvement  or  civilization."  No  wonder, 
then,  that  these  Hebrew  children,  number- 
ing one  half  of  the  Israelites  in  the  world, 


1  la   the   Land   of   the    North,    by    Samuel    Wilkinson. 
p.  47. 

2  Ibid,  p.  24. 


144  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

and  downtrodden  now  as  in  the  days  of 
Pharaoh,  should  constitute  nine  tenths  of 
the  immigrants  from  Russia  to  England  and 
America ! 

Such  are  the  galling  strictures  which  bind 
the  Russian  Jews,  as  mercilessly  as  the 
Philistines  did  their  mighty  champion,  Sam- 
son. But  history  tells  how  this  hero, 
blinded  and  goaded  to  fury  by  his  enemies, 
finally  had  his  revenge.  No  eagle's  eye  can 
pierce  the  future  and  see  what  fate  awaits 
the  haughty  ruling  house  of  Romanoff.  Some 
day  before  the  sun  sets — perhaps  sooner  than 
any  of  us  imagine — persecuted  Samson, 
driven  to  desperation,  may  again  rise  in  his 
pristine  strength  and  annihilate  his  enemies. 


CHAPTER  XII 
JERMAK,  IMMIGRATION  AND  EXILES 

What  most  interested  us  in  Russia  was  that 
it  was  an  empire  of  discontent.  High  or  low, 
official  or  unofficial,  it  made  no  difference;  every 
one  talked  of  the  unsatisfactory  condition  of  the 
country — even  General  Todleben,  the  hero  of  Sevas- 
topol and  Plevna,  who  was  then  the  governor- 
general  of  Odessa.  It  was  a  result  of  the  Russo- 
Turklsh  War — a  foretaste  of  what  was  to  follow 
the  war  with  Japan. — George  Washburn,  Fifty 
fears  in  Constantinople,  p.  11(9. 

Jemark 

JERMAK,  Yermak,  or  Irmak,  as  his  name  is 
variously  spelled,  presented  Siberia  to  Rus- 
sia, as  did  Cortez  and  Pizarro,  his  antipodal 
conquistador? s,  Mexico  and  Peru  to  Spain. 
Those  Cossack  and  Spaniard  outlaws  em- 
ployed almost  simultaneously  the  same  tac- 
tics against  the  indigenes. 

The  impetuous  charges  and  fierce  ardor 
of  these  simple-minded  natives,  fighting  for 
wife,  children,  and  native  land,  were  no 
match  to  these  infamous  freebooters,  armed 
with  strange  fire-spitting  weapons.  Despite 
their  reckless  courage,  the  field  of  battle 
was  again  and  again  strewn  with  heaps  of 
their  slain  braves. 

For  years  Jermak  gained  great  notoriety 
145 


146  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

by  harassing  merchants  on  "the  royal  road 
of  the  Volga,"  often  robbing  and  murdering 
his  victims,  until  one  day  imperial  troops 
outwitted  and  captured  him.  Ivan  the  Ter- 
rible, learning  of  the  prowess  of  this  Cossack 
chieftain,  pardoned  him  and  then  authorized 
him  to  lead  a  motley  crowd  of  some  850  Rus- 
sians, Cossacks,  Tartars,  Germans,  Poles, 
and  escaped  prisoners  across  the  Urals  into 
Siberia.  Jermak  marched  boldly  into  the 
interior  of  Siberia  and  captured  Siber  or 
Isker,  the  capital  of  the  Siberian  dominions. 
He  consoled  the  Tsar  in  his  last  years  by 
presenting  him  with  the  vast  domain  of  Si- 
beria. Ivan  sent  bishops  and  priests  to  the 
survivors  of  the  subdued  peoples,  and  re- 
warded Jermak  with  a  costly  cuirass  of  ex- 
quisite workmanship.  This  handsome  gift 
proved  his  doom.  At  an  unguarded  moment 
his  enemies  attacked  his  forces.  He  tried  to 
escape  by  swimming  across1  the  Irtysh,  but 
the  weight  of  his  imperial  chain-armor  pulled 
him  under  the  waters  never  to  rise  again. 
Jermak  was  made  a  hero  by  the  Russian 
people  and  a  saint  by  the  Orthodox  Church. 
An  elegant  silver  statuette  of  this  Cossack 
hero,  inclosed  in  a  glass  case,  is  one  of  the 
many  costly  curios  on  exhibition  in  the  sump- 
tuous apartments  of  the  Kremlin  Palace  at 
Moscow,  and  two  paintings  represent  him  on 
the  walls  of  the  University  at  Tomsk.  In 
one,  Jermak  is  seen  fiercely  combating  na- 


JERMAK  147 

tive  tribes  on  the  banks  of  a  river,  while 
they  are  paralyzed  with  terror  by  the  novel 
murderous  firearms.  The  other  represents 
him  standing  with  proud  mien,  arrayed  in 
the  handsome,  fatal  cuirass,  bestowed  upon 
him  by  the  Tsar. 

From  Jermak's  day  to  this  the  same  merci- 
less tactics  have  been  systematically  pur- 
sued. By  this  relentless  policy,  thousands 
of  helpless  Chinese  were  remorselessly 
butchered  in  Manchuria  in  1900.  General 
Skobeleff  adopted  the  same  methods  in  his 
conquests  in  Central  Asia.  He  tried  to 
justify  his  atrocious  massacre  of  eight  thou- 
sand defenseless  Tekkes  at  Geok  Tepe,  in 
1881,  on  the  principle  that  with  Asiatics  the 
duration  of  peace  is  in  direct  proportion  to 
the  number  of  the  enemy  slain.  He  un- 
abashedly declares  his  policy  in  these  words: 
"My  system  is  this — to  strike  hard  and  to 
keep  on  hitting  until  resistance  is  completely 
overcome,  then  to  form  ranks,  cease  slaugh- 
ter, and  be  kind  and  humane  to  the  prostrate 
enemy."1 

Vereshchagin 

Vereshchagin  painted  his  battle  scenes 
from  a  radically  different  motive  from  that 
which  actuated  the  French  artists,  whose 
martial  productions  embellish  the  Palace  of 
Versailles.  They  were  swept  off  their  feet  by 

1  Russia  In  Asia,   by   Alexis   Krause,   p.   128. 


148  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

the  brilliant  victories  of  Napoleon.  French 
patriotic  enthusiasm  inspired  them  to  throw 
a  glamour  of  glory  over  the  gory  fields  of 
slaughter.  The  tourist  is  amazed  at  these 
mammoth  canvases  of  war,  as  he  wanders 
for  nearly  a  fifth  of  a  mile  through  the  mag- 
nificent "Galerie  des  Batailles"  at  Ver- 
sailles. 

Vereshchagin,  on  the  other  hand,  was  a 
passionate  pleader  for  peace.  His  war  paint- 
ings, in  their  realistic  hellish  carnage,  so 
appal  the  beholder  that  he  leaves  the  place 
with  his  soul  ever  afterward  armed  with 
undying  hate  against  the  dread  Moloch,  War. 

"The  fate  of  Vereshchagin  was  especially 
pitiful,  because  he  had  spent  his  whole  life 
trying  to  teach  the  human  race  peace,  and 
had  come  in  his  old  age  to  this  boiling  crater 
(Port  Arthur)  so  that  he  might  catch,  per- 
haps, a  final  horror,  with  which  to  convince 
mankind."1  There,  on  the  fatal  13th  of  April, 
1904,  in  the  sixty-third  year  of  his  age, 
Vereshchagin,  Admiral  Makaroff,  and  sixteen 
hundred  men  on  the  Russian  flagship,  Petro- 
paulovski,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  found  a 
watery  grave. 

Vereshchagin's  series  of  twenty  paintings, 
descriptive  of  Napoleon's  Russian  campaign, 
now  adorning  the  walls  of  the  elegant  Mu- 
seum of  Alexander  III,  at  Saint  Petersburg, 
when  exhibited  in  Berlin  in  1897  attracted 

»The  Tragedy  of  Russia,  by  McCormick,  vol.  I,  p.  113. 


JERMAK  149 

great  crowds.  His  brush  portrayed  the 
barbarous  sacrilege  of  Napoleon  turning 
churches  dedicated  to  the  worship  of  God 
into  stables  for  his  cavalry  and  kitchens  for 
his  troops,  and  also  the  hideous  diabolism  of 
war,  in  a  most  realistic  manner.  Emperor 
William  viewed  these  masterpieces  carefully, 
and  then,  singling  out  two  which  especially 
impressed  him,  he  stood  still  studying  them, 
attracted  by  their  freshness  and  originality. 
One  was  "The  Retreat  from  Petrovski  Park," 
in  which  Napoleon,  accompanied  by  his  body- 
guard, was  riding  amid  smoldering  heaps  and 
smoking  ruins.  The  other  sketched  the  em- 
peror of  the  French,  wrapped  in  furs,  strid- 
ing at  the  head  of  his  generals,  over  a  battle- 
field strewn  with  corpses  veiled  in  snow, 
through  which  protruded  mutilated  arms, 
legs,  heads,  and  feet.  The  German  monarch 
turned  to  the  Russian  painter  and,  with 
deep  emotion,  said,  "Yos  tableaux  sont  la> 
meiUeure  assurance  contre  la  guerre!"1 

Vereshchagin,  it  will  be  remembered,  was 
the  artist  who  painted  the  battle  of  San 
Juan,  Cuba,  and  exhibited  it  to  President 
Roosevelt,  who  had  been  a  participant  in 
that  conflict.  Roosevelt  criticized  the  paint- 
ing because  the  foliage  in  the  foreground 
was  not  true  to  life.  So  Vereshchagin  made 
a  special  trip  to  San  Juan  in  the  summer, 
the  season  in  which  the  battle  was  fought. 

1  Russische  Kulturbilder,  by  Eugen  Zabel,  p.  91. 


150  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

After  this  he  retouched  his  painting  by  add- 
ing the  brilliant  crimson  of  the  poinciana. 

"A  Pyramid  of  Skulls"  may  be  a  most  elo- 
quent advocate  for  peace.  What  could  have 
been  conceived  more  expressive  of  utter 
horror,  extreme  lonesomeness,  and  appalling 
ghastliness  than  this  painting  of  Veresh- 
chagin?  There,  alone  on  the  dead  level  of 
the  desert,  where  once  mortal  hate  raged  in 
all  its  fury,  stands  piled  up  a  huge  pyramid 
of  human  skulls.  Overhead  evil-omened 
birds  of  prey  wearily  alight  or  fitfully  flutter 
around,  as  if  in  quest  of  more  cadavers  to 
peck  at  and  devour. 

Immigration 

Ever  since  the  days  of  Jermak,  emigrants 
and  exiles  have  been  crossing  the  Urals  in  a 
constantly  increasing  ratio.  Few  realize 
the  immense  migration  now  going  on  into 
Siberia.  Statistics  state  that  from  January 
1  to  October  31, 1908,  728,802  persons  crossed 
from  Russia  into  Siberia,  showing  an  in- 
crease of  thirty-one  per  cent  over  the  same 
period  of  1907,  so  that  now  the  annual  num- 
ber must  be  about  a  million  or  more. 

Every  day  we  would  meet  trainloads  of 
these  wanderers,  and  would  watch  parties 
of  them  huddled  about  the  Russian  plat- 
forms in  a  most  pitiable  plight.  The  freight 
box  cars,  in  which  they  were  often  trans- 
ported, had  painted  on  the  outside  "8  Horses 


JERMAK  151 

or  40  men."  Surely  eight  or  a  dozen  horses 
would  have  fared  much  better  than  those  for- 
lorn immigrants  of  varying  ages  and  sexes, 
packed  together  like  slaves  in  a  dhow. 
Shelves  were  extemporized  on  the  inner  sides 
of  these  cattle  cars,  on  which  men,  women 
with  babes,  boys  and  girls  herded  during  the 
long  dreary  months  of  interrupted  travel. 
For  some  special  reason  unknown  to  us  these 
poor  unfortunates  were  left  stranded  at  the 
station,  while  other  trains,  having  right  of 
way,  passed  by. 

Exiles 

The  political  exiles  and  convicts  looked 
far  more  comfortable.  These  traveled,  to  be 
sure,  under  guard,  but  in  fairly  decent  cars, 
and  seemed  to  be  properly  fed  and  cared  for. 
These  prison  vans  on  wheels,  when  seen  for 
the  first  time  on  our  way  from  Irkutsk  to 
Tomsk,  sent  a  chill,  as  a  draught  from  a  cold 
storage  room,  through  our  very  bones.  Every 
succeeding  car  of  these  miser alles  intensified 
our  horror  at  this  atrocious  system  of  exile. 
One  day  we  counted  twelve  of  these  crowded 
convict  cars.  Some  faces  looked  brutal  and 
vicious,  while  others  wore  the  sad,  resigned 
look  of  refined  intelligence.  Probably  such 
were  political  or  religious  offenders,  who 
were  either  betrayed  by  some  indiscreet  re- 
mark, or  who,  having  tasted  of  the  waters 
of  life,  would  obey  God  rather  than  man. 


152  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

The  sight  of  such  victims  of  political  tyranny 
could  not  but  awaken  sympathy  in  the  hearts 
of  Americans  and  all  other  lovers  of  freedom. 
Russia  has  many  souls  who  abominate  this 
dastardly  policy  of  banishment,  which  should 
have  been  abolished  with  the  Inquisition  in 
the  Middle  Ages.  The  laws  of  Russia  are 
such  that  no  Russian  patriot  in  the  press  or 
at  public  meeting  can  long  protest  with  im- 
punity against  this  monstrous  repression  of 
human  rights.  Count  Tolstoy  was  the 
single  exception  to  this  rule. 

Opportunity  of  the  Painter 

No  restrictions,  strange  to  say,  are  placed 
upon  the  painter.  His  brush  can  and  does 
depict  the  horror  and  pity  of  it.  No  Rus- 
sian can  look  upon  "The  Remorse  of  Ivan 
the  Terrible,"  by  Ryepin,  without  having  the 
frailty  and  wickedness  of  his  imperial  rulers 
staring  him  in  the  face.  No  one  can  look 
at  the  painting  "Everywhere  Is  Life,"  by 
Yaroshenko,  without  bitter  animosity  in- 
stinctively rankling  in  his  breast.  Both 
paintings  are  preserved  in  the  famous 
Tretyakov  Gallery,  said  to  be  the  choicest 
private  collection  of  paintings  in  the  world. 
They  were  collected  by  the  brothers  Trety- 
akov, and  in  1892  presented  by  them  to  the 
city  of  Moscow.  "The  Remorse  of  Ivan  the 
Terrible"  is  the  larger  of  the  two  and  con- 
stantly attracts  crowds.  This  talented  Rus- 


JERMAK  153 

sian  artist  has  represented  this  Muscovite 
Nero  with  terror-stricken  visage,  frantically 
embracing  the  pallid  corpse  of  his  son,  whom 
in  a  passion  he  has  just  slain.  Most  graphi- 
cally, nay,  even  sensationally,  does  this  re- 
markable painting  tell  the  plain  story,  that 
the  Tsar  of  all  the  Kussias — the  Father  of 
the  Orthodox  Church — is  not  only  human 
but  exceedingly  sinful — guilty  of  murder — 
and  needing  the  forgiveness  of  God  as  much 
as  his  humblest  subject.  Most  excruciat- 
ingly revolting  and  loathsome  is  this  dia- 
bolic specter  of  imperial  murder.  Unex- 
pectedly coming  before  it,  we  found  our- 
selves for  the  first  few  moments  riveted  to 
the  spot  as  fixedly  as  Chipanoff,  the  mes- 
senger of  Prince  Kourbski  from  the  Polish 
camp,  whose  foot  this  same  Ivan  pinned 
with  his  sharp  staff  to  a  step  of  the  Red 
Staircase.  With  pigments  more  glaring 
than  any  with  which  Titian  ever  ventured 
to  embellish  his  frescoes,  Ryepin  has  placed 
upon  canvas  this  spectacular  exposure  of 
heinous  guilt  in  high  places.  The  tragic 
remorse  of  the  deed  will  not  down.  Anyone 
who  has  once  viewed  it  finds  its  gruesome, 
blood-curdling  shadow,  like  the  ghost  in  Mac- 
beth, insistently  pursuing  him  many  a  long 
day  and  night.  Such  an  artist,  whose  inner- 
most soul  is  burning  with  fiery  indignation, 
dares  display  an  eloquence  as  patriotic, 
though  mute,  as  did  Patrick  Henry.  With 


154  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

one  masterstroke  he  has  brushed  away  the 
flimsy  fabric  of  the  divine  right  of  kings  and 
affirmed  "Vox  populi,  vox  dei"  Such  in- 
sight into  inhuman  crime  on  the  throne 
haunts  like  a  horrid  nightmare  the  simple- 
minded  moujik.  Such  imperial  villainy 
steels  the  sinews  of  the  infuriated  revolu- 
tionist to  still  darker  deeds  of  vindictive 
violence. 

The  other  painting,  "Everywhere  Is  Life," 
"by  Yaroshenko,  portrays  a  less  ghastly  but 
extremely  sad  event — alas,  too  common, 
from  which 

Hope,  writhing  fled,  and 

Mercy  sighed  farewell. 

A  convict  car  is  stopping  at  a  station  plat- 
form. Inside  the  iron  bars  of  a  car  window 
is  an  interesting  family  trio.  The  center  of 
the  group  is  a  little  boy  of  three  or  four 
summers,  who  is  eagerly  watching  some 
pigeons  outside.  One  pigeon  is  perched  on 
the  car  roof.  Some  are  flying  about,  while 
others  are  busy  picking  up  crumbs  of  black 
bread  with  which  the  child  is  feeding  them. 
The  father  at  one  side,  whose  hand  holds  the 
broken  loaf,  is  pictured  with  a  kindly,  in- 
telligent countenance. 

The  free,  happy  life  of  these  pigeons,  gayly 
hopping  on  the  platform  or  gracefully  cir- 
cling in  the  air,  by  their  striking  contrast 
throw  a  charming  soft  glow  of  pathos  over 
this  touching  domestic  episode  at  the  car 


EVERYWHERE  Is  LIFE 


JERMAK  155 

window.  This  is  emphatically  so,  if  seen 
through  Russian  eyes.  The  ancient  Egyp- 
tians,1 like  most  modern  nations,  never  re- 
garded the  pigeon  as  a  sacred  bird,  but  prized 
it  as  a  dainty  dish.  Not  so  the  Russian.  He 
considers  the  pigeon  as  symbolic  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  which  should  be  held  sacred  and 
never  used  as  an  article  of  food.  Moreover, 
every  Russian  uses,  as  a  term  of  endearment, 
the  very  common  expression,  "My  little 
pigeon  !"2 

The  father  in  the  picture  was  probably  a 
well-meaning  artisan  in  a  small  village,  who 
had  in  an  unguarded  moment  dropped  some 
chance  remark  about  liberty.  This  had  been 
overheard  and  reported  to  the  authorities, 
with  the  result  that  he  was  peremptorily  sen- 
tenced to  banishment  to  Siberia  or  Saghalien. 
The  mother  has  a  sweet,  resigned  expression. 
Like  so  many  other  Russian  wives  similarly 
situated,  she  had  volunteered  to  accompany 
her  husband  to  his  far-off  exile,  taking  along 
their  only  son.  An  elderly,  grizzly  whis- 
kered moujik,  but  with  benignant  look  withal, 
and  a  youthful,  sleek-looking  citizen  of  the 
hounded  Hebrew  race,  both  of  whom  are 
deeply  absorbed  in  watching  the  playful 
antics  of  the  innocent  boy,  complete  the 
group  in  the  foreground.  In  the  back- 
ground, out  of  the  opposite  window,  is  an- 

1  The  Ancient  Egyptians,  by  Wilkinson,  vol.   111. 
*  Siberia,  As  It  la,  by  DeWindt,  p.  66. 


156  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

other  exile,  wistfully  gazing  out  upon  God's 
free  open  and  beyond — "everywhere  is  life." 

By  such  paintings  Kussian  patriots,  even 
though  their  mouths  are  muzzled  and  their 
ankles  enchained,  can  teach  the  love  of  free- 
dom. These  paintings  indicate  the  intense 
passion  for  liberty  smoldering  in  the  breasts 
of  Russia's  millions.  Violent  eruptions,  as 
of  a  pent-up  Vesuvius,  have  already  taken 
place.  The  extreme  propaganda  of  the  Nihil- 
ist have  been  summarily  suppressed.  "Their 
conspiracies  and  murders,"  as  Dr.  Buckley 
pertinently  states,  "have  made  it  necessary 
that  the  government  of  Russia  should  be 
nothing  but  a  gigantic  police  force,  of  which 
the  emperor  is  the  chief.*'1  So  soon  as  the 
real  facts  of  the  repeated  defeats  by  the 
Japanese  percolated  among  the  masses  of 
the  Russian  people,  riot  and  revenge  reigned 
rampant,  recalling  the  days  of  "the  Reign  of 
Terror"  in  France. 

Russia  has  also  produced  musicians  of  re- 
markable genius.  Rubinstein,  one  of  her 
musical  prodigies,  who  astounded  Moscow  at 
the  age  of  ten,  made  the  following  discrimi- 
nating remark  toward  the  close  of  his  fa- 
mous career:  "In  Russia  I  exist;  in  Germany 
I  think ;  in  France  I  enjoy  [myself] ;  in  Italy 
and  Spain  I  wander;  in  America  I  act;  and 
everywhere  I  love."2 

J  The  Midnight  Sun,  The  Tsar,  and  The  Nihilist,  by 
James  M.  Buckley,  p.  370. 

3  Kulturbilder,   by   Zabel,   p.    190. 


JERMAK  157 

Exasperated  at  the  political  despotism  of 
Russia,  and  admiring  the  rare  artistic  genius 
of  her  sons,  Hugo  Ganz  felt  compelled  to 
utter  the  following  noble  sentiment,  which 
echoes  in  the  heart  of  every  lover  of  liberty 
the  world  over:  "A  people  which  produces 
such  artists  in  every  field  as  the  Russian, 
has  not  only  the  right  to  the  strongest  self- 
consciousness  and  to  the  general  sympathy 
of  people  of  culture,  but,  above  all,  it  has 
the  right  to  be  respected  by  its  rulers  and 
not  to  be  handled  like  a  horde  of  slaves."1 

Religious  Liberty 

Had  the  policy  of  religious  liberty,  as  once 
frankly  stated  by  Peter  the  Great,  been  con- 
sistently carried  out,  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Russian  empire  would  be  to-day  far  more 
happy  and  prosperous.  "Passing  through 
the  desert  of  the  Volga,  he  [Peter  the  Great] 
found  there  a  colony  of  industrious  rasko- 
links  [dissenters],  ordered  them  to  be  left 
in  peace,  and  begged  them  to  pray  for  him. 
'God,'  he  said,  'has  given  the  Tsar  power 
over  nations,  but  Christ  alone  has  power 
over  the  consciences  of  men.'  "2  His  loyalty 
to  the  Orthodox  Church,  however,  made  him 
regard  the  dissenters  as  heretics,  whom  he 
often  caused  to  be  punished,  sometimes  most 
cruellv. 


1  The  Land  of  Riddles,  by  Hugo  Ganz,  p.  282. 

2  History  of  Russia,  by  Uambaud,  vol.  ii,  p.  94. 


158  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

The  Edict  of  Alexander  I,  dated  December 
6,  1816,  breathed  the  same  humane  senti- 
ment, but  proved  abortive  in  stopping  perse- 
cution.' A  truly  Christian  spirit  pervaded 
this  imperial  utterance.  "To  lead  back  the 
lost  sheep  to  the  fold  cannot  be  done  by 
force,  this  being  contrary  to  the  doctrine  of 
the  Saviour,  who  came  to  seek  and  save  the 
lost.  True  faith  is  a  work  of  grace  and  can 
only  be  effected  in  the  soul  by  instruction, 
gentleness,  and,  most  of  all,  by  good  ex- 
ample. .  .  .  The  church  must  neither  use  nor 
permit  violence  against  the  erring  ones,  even 
if  it  should  not  approve  of  their  separation. 
It  is  utterly  opposed  to  the  spirit  of  its 
Divine  Head."1 

On  Easter  Day,  1905,  a  new  Imperial 
Edict  of  Keligious  Toleration  was  ostenta- 
tiously granted,  but  its  effects  appear  to  be 
as  nugatory  as  Alexander  I's,  nearly  a  cen- 
tury earlier.  An  enraged  people,  exasper- 
ated by  the  disastrous  defeats  in  the  Russo- 
Japanese  war,  forced  Nicholas  II  reluctantly 
to  grant  it.  Carl  Joubert  styles  it  "a  Stock 
Exchange  Ukase,"  asserting  that  it  was 
issued  solely  to  placate  the  enmity  of  other 
nations,  and  thus  facilitate  another  foreign 
loan.2  In  it  Nicholas  II  makes  no  allusion 
whatever  to  loosening  the  cruel  bonds  shack- 
ling millions  of  his  Jewish  children.  The 

•  Under  Three  Tsars,  by  Robert  S.  Latimer,  p.  46. 
"The   Fall   of   Tsardom,    by   Carl    Joubert,    p.    248. 


JERMAK  159 

inveterate  hatred  of  the  Orthodox  Church 
and  chinoviks  also  continues  to  vent  itself 
on  anyone  daring  enough  to  free  himself 
from  such  spiritual  tyranny.  Despite  these 
dark  clouds,  an  unprejudiced  observer  can 
dimly  discern  glimmerings  of  hope,  presag- 
ing a  brighter  dawn  in  the  near  future. 

It  has  been  estimated  that  about  a  third 
of  the  so-called  Orthodox  Christians  are 
secretly  or  openly  attached  to  these  dis- 
senters, who  "are  an  index  of  the  devotion 
and  desire  for  light  in  the  character  of  the 
true  Russian."1 

Among  these  raskolinks,  or  sects,  the  fol- 
lowing are  the  chief:  (1)  Popovsty,  or  with 
priests;  (2)  Bezpopovsty,  or  without  priests ; 
(3)  Khlysts,  or  flagellants,  like  some  Roman 
Catholic  devotees;  (4)  Stundists,  or  Ger- 
man Mennonites,  so  called  from  their 
"Stunde,"  or  hour  of  devotion;  (5)  Molo- 
kans,  or  milk  eaters;  (6)  Doukhorborsts,  or 
Spirit- Warriors,  resembling  Quakers. 

Evangelical  Nobility 

Persecution  has  spared  neither  the  high 
nor  low  ranks  of  Russian  society.  The  case 
of  Colonel  Pashkoff,  of  the  Imperial  Guards, 
is  in  point.  Belonging  to  a  distinguished 
family  and  possessed  of  great  wealth,  he 
made  a  visit  to  England,  and,  while  there, 
imbibed  some  of  the  Methodist  spirit.  On 

J  Land   of  the   North,   by    Samuel    Wilkinson,   p.   19. 


160  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

his  return  he  devoted  his  whole  life  and- vast 
fortune  to  spreading  the  truth  he  had 
espoused.  The  impassioned  evangelical 
preaching  of  Lord  Radstock,  in  French,  to 
the  upper  classes  at  Saint  Petersburg  dur- 
ing the  successive  winters  from  1874  to  1877 
was  also  productive  of  much  ripe  fruit. 
Besides  Colonel  Pashkoff,  two  other  notable 
Russian  aristocrats,  Count  Bobrinski  and 
Count  Korff,  joined  the  ranks  of  the  dis- 
sentersi  All  three  began  to  conduct  meet- 
ings for  prayer  and  expounding  the  gospel. 
The  mansion  of  Colonel  Pashkoff  on  Gagarin 
Quay  was  crowded  with  eager  hearers  of 
the  Word.  The  arch  enemy  of  religious 
liberty,  Pobiedonostzeff,  affirmed  that  "more 
than  fifteen  hundred  persons  were  present, 
representing  every  grade  of  society." 

"Peasants  and  members  of  princely  fami- 
lies, students  from  the  university,  and  mili- 
tary officers,  resplendent  in  their  uniforms, 
and  even  monks  and  priests  were  among  the 
crowds  that  thronged  the  doors  to  secure  ad- 
mission. Madame  Pashkoff  usually  presided 
at  the  American  organ,  and  her  daughters 
helped  to  lead  in  the  singing.  The  hymns 
were  Russian  versions  of  familiar  English 
hymns,  adapted  to  the  tastes  of  the  Russian 
people.  All  three  of  the  above-mentioned 
noblemen  gave  expositions  of  the  Scriptures 
and  addresses,  each  having  his  distinctive 
gifts  as  a  public  speaker.  Colonel  Pashkoff 


JERMAK  161 

was  mighty  in  the  Scriptures,  and  arrested 
the  attention  of  his  hearers  by  his  earnest 
and  forcible  utterances;  Count  Korff  ap- 
pealed mainly  to  the  intelligence  of  his 
hearers;  while  Count  Bobrinski,  who  earned 
the  name  of  'the  Spurgeon  of  Kussia,'  spoke 
with  great  vivacity  and  freedom. 

"In  summer  these  noblemen  repaired  to 
th&r  estates  in  the  country,  where  they 
opened  their  castles  to  the  astonished  peas- 
ants for  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  of  Christ. 
The  good  news  would  have  been  'as  cold 
waters  to  a  thirsty  soul,'  even  if  brought  to 
them  in  an  earthen  pitcher  by  a  hunted 
Stundist,  but  to  have  the  water  of  life  prof- 
fered to  these  sheepskin-clad  moujiks  in 
silver  tankards  was  every  way  most  sensa- 
tional."1 

Pobiedonostzeff,  though  a  layman,  was  at 
this  time  the  head  of  "the  Most  Holy  Gov- 
erning Synod  of  the  Orthodox  Church."  An 
implacable  bigot,  like  Philip  II  of  Spain,  or 
his  prototype,  Saul  of  Tarsus,  "breathing 
out  threatenings  and  slaughter,"  he  deter- 
mined to  extinguish  this  rapidly  growing 
heresy.  Soon  an  order  was  issued  for  the 
banishment  of  the  chief  offenders,  who  were 
given  ten  days  to  pack  up  and  quit  their 
native  land.  Colonel  Pashkoff,  with  the 
other  leaders,  was  banished,  his  institutions 
destroyed,  and  a  large  part  of  his  estates  con- 

1  Under  Three  Tsars,  by  Robert  S.  Latlmer,  pp.  74,  75. 


162  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

fiscated,  while  he,  himself,  died  in  1902,  an 
exile  in  Paris.1 

Milk  Eaters 

The  Molokans,  or  "Milk  Eaters,"  receive 
this  nickname  because  the  members  of  this 
sect  would  eat  curds  and  cheese  on  fast  days 
the  same  as  on  other  days,  and  also  because 
they  abstain  from  vodka — the  popular  alco- 
holic drink  of  the  Russian  peasant — and  con- 
tent themselves  with  drinking  milk.  They 
cheerfully  accept  the  term,  saying:  "Yes! 
We  are  indeed  milk  eaters.  We  desire  'the 
sincere  milk  of  the  Word,  that  we  may  grow 
thereby.'  We  must  have  it  unadulterated — 
uncontaminated  by  the  fingers  of  the  Popes 
and  undiluted  by  any  mixture  of  man's  de- 
vices; and  we  will  have  as  much  as  we  can 
get  of  it,  for  we  love  our  Bibles."2  The 
Molokans  are  very  friendly  toward  other 
evangelical  Christians.  Dr.  G.  A.  Simons,  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Mission  at  Saint 
Petersburg,  was  recently  in  southern  Russia, 
where  by  invitation  he  attended  their  meet- 
ings and  acceded  to  their  request  to  be  photo- 
graphed in  the  midst  of  their  group  of  dele- 
gates. The  mighty  pen  of  Count  Tolstoy  was 
wielded  in  behalf  of  the  Molokans  and  Douk- 
horborsts,  but  apparently  not  one  iota  did  the 
government  abate  its  bitter  antagonism. 

i  Russia,  Her  Strength  and  Weakness,  by  Wolf  von 
Schlerbrand,  pp.  210,  211. 

"Under  Three  Tsars,  by  Robert  S.  Latimer,  pp.  38,  39. 


JERMAK  163 

Spirit- Warriors 

Hemmed  in  on  either  side  and  relentlessly 
pursued  by  the  oppressor,  the  situation  of 
the  Doukhorborsts  did,  indeed,  seem  to  be 
as  desperate  as  the  Israelites,  pursued  by 
Pharaoh's  hosts.  Their  plaintive  cries,  how- 
ever, reached  the  ears  of  the  Almighty,  who 
from  an  unexpected  quarter  raised  up  for 
them  deliverers.  Wealthy  and  influential 
philanthropists  in  England  and  America 
provided  a  way  of  escape  across  their  Red 
Sea  of  difficulty  to  the  broad  fertile  prairies 
of  Canada.  At  first  their  advent  on  Ameri- 
can soil  caused  great  forebodings  among  the 
Canadian  authorities,  until  in  1902  a  former 
popular  leader,  Peter  Veregin,  or  "Father 
Vereguine,"  was  released  from  prison  in 
Russia  and  arrived  in  Canada.  By  kindli- 
ness and  ability  he  gained  their  confidence, 
and  soon  brought  order  out  of  chaos,  peace 
out  of  discord.  His  shrewd  leadership  sys- 
tematized their  life.  A  miniature  Parlia- 
ment was  organized,  composed  of  two  men 
and  one  woman  out  of  each  of  their  forty- 
eight  villages,  which  had  authority  over  all 
their  affairs.  Veregin's  personality  as  presi- 
dent of  this  body  asserted  itself  in  directing 
decisions  according  to  his  superior  wisdom. 
Every  spring  and  fall,  agents  of  the  Douk- 
horbor  Trading  Company  visit  Winnipeg  to 
buy  stores  at  wholesale  rates  for  cash  and 


164  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

thus  save  fully  twenty-five  per  cent.  Some- 
times these  agents  spend  $100,000  to  $150,- 
000  on  one  trip.  They  implicitly  follow  the 
instructions  of  Father  Vereguine's  commit- 
tee, and  on  their  return  render  a  strict  ac- 
count. One  specimen  list  is  as  follows : 

100  Teams  of  Draft  Horses. 
25  Wagons. 
62  Plows. 
38  Mowers. 
52  Self-Binders. 
30,000  Ibs.  Binding  Twine. 
350  Sets  Harness. 

Machinery  for  one  Oatmeal  Mill. 
Machinery  for  four  Flour  Mills. 
1  Telephone    System. 
12  Wheat  and  Flax  Elevators. 

In  1909  the  Dominion  Interior  Depart- 
ment published  an  Annual  Report  concern- 
ing this  sect  of  Russian  Quakers,  who  in 
1898,  to  the  number  of  some  10,000,  found  an 
asylum  within  their  borders.  This  official 
document,  far  from  regarding  the  Douk- 
horborsts  as  a  thorn  in  the  flesh,  asserts  that 
none  of  their  neighbors,  not  even  the  increas- 
ing American  contingent,  surpass  them  in 
industry,  frugality,  and  general  desirability 
as  settlers.1 

Raskolinks 

The  rabid  bigotry  of  the  Holy  Orthodox 
Church  was  not  content  with  hunting  Rus- 

'The   Evening   Post,    New   York,    May   23,    1909. 


JERMAK  165 

sian  raskolinks — not  rascals  or  rascallions, 
as  some  might  infer  from  the  etymology  of 
the  word,  but  merely  dissenters — within  her 
own  borders,  but  vented  her  spite  against 
any  foreign  ones,  who  might  have  only  a 
simple  "Reverend"  or  the  more  dignified 
"Bishop"  prefixed  to  their  names.  At  the 
time  the  Trans-Siberian  Railway  was  opened 
to  travel  Russian  officialdom  in  their  narrow 
prejudice  absolutely  refused  to  allow  any 
such  raskolinks  to  travel  on  their  transcon- 
tinental trains.1  However,  God  is  no  re- 
specter of  persons,  whether  a  Pharaoh  or  a 
Tsar.  The  rude  shock  of  the  Russo-Japanese 
war  was  needed  to  arouse  Russia  to  a  more 
liberal  policy.  In  1894-5,  during  the  Chi- 
nese-Japanese war,  Russia  refused  to  grant 
passports  to  American  missionaries  living 
at  Kalgan,  where  a  spur  of  the  Great  Wall 
divides  China  from  Mongolia.  The  Ameri- 
can government  at  Washington  took  up  the 
matter  with  the  Russian  government  at 
Saint  Petersburg  and  thrashed  it  out,  until 
finally  passports  were  promised  in  case  ex- 
treme danger  in  China  should  compel  the 
American  missionaries  to  escape  via  Siberia. 
The  Boxer  uprising  in  1900  furnished  the 
occasion,  when  a  party  of  various  nationali- 
ties succeeded  in  making  "A  Flight  for  Life" 
to  Irkutsk  and  thence  over  the  Trans-Si- 

1  China   and   Her   People,   by    Charles   Denby,    vol.    1, 
p.    225. 


166  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

berian  Kail  way  to  Europe  and  home.1 
While  this  restriction  was  still  in  force 
Bishop  Cranston,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  now  residing  at  Washington,  D.  C., 
happened  to  be  on  a  visit  at  Vladivostok. 
He  desired  to  take  a  short  ride  on  the  eastern 
section  of  the  Russian  railway,  but  was  pre- 
vented because  he  was  an  American  clergy- 
man. To-day  all  is  changed.  Now  citizens 
of  any  nation,  provided  with  passports — no 
matter  of  what  religious  creed — may  freely 
travel  from  one  end  of  the  Russian  empire 
to  the  other.  The  world  moves  and  Russia 
too,  though  reluctantly  with  laggard  gait, 
as  of  a  tired,  peevish  child,  who  is  being 
dragged  along  by  his  mother. 

Political  Liberty 

Much  confusion  prevails  concerning  the 
political  liberty  of  the  freed  serf  in  Russia. 
"From  the  moment  when,  with  so  loud  a 
flourish  of  trumpets,  Alexander  II  decreed 
the  emancipation  of  the  serfs,  nothing  has 
been  done  to  train,  educate,  or  raise  this 
miserable  people  from  their  degradation. 
While  hundreds  of  millions  had  been  spent 
in  the  indulgence  in  the  craze  for  militarism 
and  conquest,  inherent  in  the  one  class  (chi- 
noviks),  which  is  consulted  in  the  country, 
the  moujiks  have  been  retrograded  rather 
than  assisted  in  emerging  from  the  con- 

'A  Flight  for  Life,  by  James  H.  Roberts. 


JERMAK  167 

ditions  of  mere  animal  existence.  A  tithe  of 
the  money  expended  in  the  exploitation  of 
Manchuria,  the  sending  of  secret  missions  to 
Afghanistan,  and  the  fleecing  of  territory 
from  Persia  and  the  Khanates  of  Central 
Asia,  would  have  sufficed  for  the  enlighten- 
ment of  the  Russians,  the  emancipation  of 
the  country  from  its  primitive  civilization, 
and  the  introduction  of  education  through- 
out the  territories  of  the  Tsar."1 

The  liberty  granted  to  the  American 
Negro  by  the  Emancipation  Proclamation 
of  Abraham  Lincoln  was  as  wide  as  the  poles 
from  that  granted  by  the  Imperial  Ukase 
of  Alexander  II.  As  in  feudal  times,  the 
serf  remained  attached  to  the  soil,  osten- 
sibly that  he  might  be  available  for  military 
service.  Government  bonds  were  presented 
to  his  former  baronial  landlords,  but  not 
a  single  kopek  nor  one  square  foot  of  land 
was  given  to  the  poor  ex-serf.  Any  "Rus- 
sian serf  who  leaves  the  village-commune 
without  permission  to-day  is  arrested,  fined, 
imprisoned,  and  sent  back  to  his  native 
place.  ...  In  many  cases  the  position  of  the 
peasant  is  hopeless.  At  present  the  peasant 
cannot,  without  consent  of  his  commune, 
work  for  wages.  From  the  wages  of  peas- 
ants, permitted,  to  work  in  mines,  factories, 
and  industrial  works,  a  part  may  be  de- 


1  Russia  In  Asia,  by  Alexis  Krause,  pp.  286,  287. 


168  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

ducted  and  paid  to  the  government  on  ac- 
count of  their  commune's  indebtedness  under 
the  land-redemption  scheme.  .  .  .  The  con- 
ditions are  such  as  preclude  the  creation  of 
wealth  by  the  people  and  deprive  them  of 

hope  and  legitimate  aspirations He  is 

born  to  a  heritage  of  debt  and  saddled  with 
an  incubus  from  which  he  can  free  himself 
in  no  other  way  than  by  emigrating."1 

If  these  millions  of  Slavic  men  "with  the 
hoe" — wageless  and  hopeless  through  so 
long  a  night  of  horrid  darkness — now  descry 
a  faint  ray  of  hope  on  their  far  eastern 
horizon,  need  we  wonder  to  find  them  with 
wives  and  little  ones — all  they  can  call  their 
own — start  for  that  far-away  land,  even  if 
it  be  the  dreaded,  ill-famed  Siberia  of  the 
exiles?  Tolstoy,  ever  sympathizing  with  the 
peasants  in  their  misery,  in  his  last  work, 
Three  Days  in  a  Village,  suppressed  by  the 
government  after  a  few  copies  had  found 
their  way  to  America,  depicts  a  Russian 
peasant,  lured  by  the  call  of  the  wild,  sell- 
ing his  patrimony  and  emigrating  with  his 
family  to  Siberia.  Disillusioned  there,  he 
returns  to  his  ancestral  village,  only  to  find 
himself  homeless,  landless,  hopeless. 

In  order  to  overcome  the  stupid  inertia  of 
ages,  special  inducements  had  to  be  offered. 
Since  1892  emigrants,  on  certain  conditions, 

1  Greater  Russia,  by  William  Oliver  Greener,  edition 
1904,  pp.  45-47. 


JERMAK  169 

receive  per  head  a  grant  of  fifteen  dessiatins 
(about  forty  acres)  of  land,  every  man, 
woman,  and  child  counting.  In  addition, 
they  are  tax  free  for  the  first  three  years, 
and  one  half  tax  free  for  the  following  three 
years,  thus  making  them  liable  to  the  full 
levy  at  the  beginning  of  the  seventh  year. 
Besides,  all  young  men  are  permitted  to  post- 
pone their  military  service  for  three  years 
(that  is,  until  the  farm  is  in  order)  and, 
moreover,  to  the  poorest  classes,  small  loans 
and  grants  of  seeds  and  timber  are  made.1 

''Liberty,  Equality,  Fraternity!"  were  the 
loud  cries  rending  the  air  during  the  French 
Revolution,  when  the  frenzied  Jacobin  mobs, 
intoxicated  with  the  first  draughts  of  liberty, 
paraded  the  streets  of  Paris.  To  the  slug- 
gish, century-oppressed  minds  and  bodies  of 
these  emancipated  serfs,  such  sentiments 
sound  as  far  distant  as  the  planet  Mars. 
Not  many  decades,  however,  will  elapse  be- 
fore Siberia,  with  its  greater  though  limited 
freedom,  will  demand  its  long-denied  rights 
— those  inalienable  rights  of  man — which 
made  the  Paris  mob  run  riot,  and  which 
Thomas  Jefferson  embodied  in  the  Constitu- 
tion of  the  United  States  in  the  modified 
form  of  "life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of 
happiness."  A  marked  contrast  is  already 
noticeable  in  the  people  of  Siberia  from  the 

1  The  Coming  Struggle  in.  Eastern  Asia,  by  Putnam- 
Weale,  pp.  264,  265. 


170  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

Russians  on  the  other  side  of  the  Urals. 
Men  who  undergo  exile  for  their  political 
and  religious  opinions  have  usually  deep 
convictions,  so  that  their  new  and  freer  en- 
vironment enables  them  to  breathe  the  air 
of  greater  independence.  Some  predict  that 
"in  time  these  facts  will  tell,  and  things 
will  occur  which  may  change  the  trend  of 
affairs  in  a  moment,  which  will  surprise  no 
one  more  than  the  authorities  at  Saint 
Petersburg."1 

Russian  and  American  Pioneers  Compared 
Any  attempted  parallel  between  the  pio- 
neers of  American  civilization  westward 
and  Russian  eastward  is  both  gratuitous  and 
futile.  The  character  of  the  American  pio- 
neers, with  their  accompanying  civilization, 
is  diametrically  opposite.  The  winning  of 
the  Mississippi  valley,  the  gaining  of  Cali- 
fornia, and  the  saving  of  Oregon  to  the 
Union  were  accomplished  by  men  of  a  radi- 
cally different  type.  Siberia  can  boast  of 
no  Daniel  Boone,  Colonel  Fremont,  nor 
Marcus  Whitman.  Outlaws,  exiles,  convicts, 
and  moujiks  have  laid  the  foundations  of  an 
entirely  opposite  social  fabric.  Religious 
liberty  and  the  schoolhouse  have  produced 
very  dissimilar  farmers,  merchants,  and 
artisans  from  those  under  the  persuasion  of 
the  icon  and  the  knout. 

*  Russia  in  Asia,   by  Alexis  Krause,  p.   320. 


JERMAK  171 

Siberia  has  not  always  proved  to  be  the 
rosy-hued  Utopia  of  their  dreams.  Its  long, 
dark,  cheerless  winters  and  short  summers 
do  not  always  compensate  for  the  milder 
climes  and  charming  shores  of  the  Euxine. 
One  wide-awake,  widely  traveled  investigator 
believes  that  "the  extreme  loneliness  of  the 
life  and  the  length  of  the  winter  are  pro- 
ducing a  peculiar  Siberian  type  of  people — 
silent,  morose,  and  inexpressibly  sad."1 

The  moujik,  starting  from  the  fertile 
valleys  of  the  Dnieper,  Don,  and  Volga, 
sometimes  keeps  moving  on  his  eastward 
tramp  until  he  stands  on  the  shores  of  the 
Pacific  or  the  Gulf  of  Pechili,  for  he  has  not 
yet  reached  the  land  of  promise.  He  is  still 
restive,  dissatisfied,  so  that  we  find  him  wist- 
fully watching  and  waiting  on  those  distant 
shores,  eager  to  sail  away  to  a  land  about 
which  strange  rumors  of  real  liberty  have 
reached  his  ears.  Surely  no  one  need  be 
surprised  at  reading  the  cablegram,  pub- 
lished in  a  New  York  daily,  dated  October 
22,  1909:  "The  immigration  agent  who  ac- 
companied Commander  Atkinson  to  Man- 
churia to  secure  Russians  to  take  the  place 
of  Japanese  laborers  on  sugar  plantations  in 
Hawaii  says  over  100,000  Russian  peasants 
in  Manchuria  want  to  come  to  Hawaii. 
Hundreds  of  families  pleaded  for  a  chance 

1  All  the  Russias,  by  Henry  Norman,  pp.  152,  153. 


172  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

when  Atkinson  selected  thirty  families  to 
come  over.  Those  people  cannot  make  a  liv- 
ing in  Siberia.  Some  Russians  who  accom- 
panied Atkinson  were  veterans  of  the  late 
war  between  Russia  and  Japan."1 

Just  two  months  earlier  Colonel  Rudolph 
Jasenski,  of  the  Fourth  Battery  Siberian 
Artillery,  who  had  seen  service  at  Port 
Arthur,  arrived  at  Ellis  Island,  New  York, 
having  crossed  the  Atlantic  in  the  steerage 
of  the  Cunarder  Mauretania.  A  reporter  of 
the  New  York  Times  gives  this  account  of 
the  arrival  of  this  Russian  officer  in  Amer- 
ica: "Before  leaving  Russia,"  the  Colonel 
said,  "I  resigned  my  commission  and  told 
the  government  officials  that  I  should  not 
return.  I  am  alone  in  this  city  and  have  no 
friends,  but  I  hope  to  get  some  kind  of  em- 
ployment, and  am  willing  to  become  a 
citizen,  as  I  prefer  the  United  States  to  any 
other  foreign  country  to  settle  in.  ...  I  will 
not  return  to  Russia,  no  matter  what  hap- 
pens. I  speak  French  and,  of  course,  my 
native  language,  but  I  cannot  speak  English, 
although  I  can  read  and  write  it — an  accom- 
plishment I  acquired  in  the  Military  College 
at  Saint  Petersburg."2 

The  novel  sensations  which  an  ordinary 
Russian  immigrant  experiences  on  his  first 
arrival  in  New  York  have  been  vividly 

»The    New    York    Sun,    October   23,    1909. 
*The  New  York  Times,   August   23,   1909. 


JERMAK  173 

sketched  by  one  of  his  most  observant  and 
ardent  admirers:  ''My  Russian  friend, 
amazed,  as  he  was,  by  the  turmoil  of  the 
streets  and  the  height  of  the  buildings,  is 
still  more  awed  by  the  sight  of  such  abun- 
dant and  wholesome  food,  to  which  he  may 
help  himself  without  stint.  There  are  large 
sweet  potatoes,  which  taste  better  than  cakes 
and  are  permeated  by  the  delicate  flavor  of 
nuts;  they  are  a  greater  contrast  to  the 
small,  gnarly  scant  portion  of  potatoes 
which  it  has  been  his  lot  to  eat,  than  any 
forty-story  sky-scraper  can  be  to  the  tumble- 
down shanty  in  which  his  father  kept  store. 
Meat — a  huge  piece  of  meat  on  his  plate — 
and  in  memory  of  his  palate  only  the  soft 
end  of  a  soup-bone,  as  a  special  delicacy. 
What  a  contrast!  'Last  but  not  least,'  the 
pie,  that  apple  pie,  of  which  he  had  a  whole 
one  to  himself  and  knew  not  how  to  attack 
it;  until,  finally,  following  good  precedent, 
he  took  it  into  his  trembling  hands  and  let 
his  joyous  face  disappear  in  its  juicy  depths. 
After  the  dinner  he  was  catechized.  All  the 
inhabitants  of  the  far-away  town  were  in- 
quired after,  and  the  record  of  the  living  and 
dead  told  to  the  hungry  hearers.  What  a 
marvelous  group  this  is!  And  typical  of 
thousands."1 

1  On    the    Trail    of    the    Immigrant,    by    Edward    A. 
Steiner,   pp.    158,   159. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

TOMSK 

We  reached  Tomsk  at  two  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing, but  did  not  stop.  Beyond  Tomsk  there  is  a 
river  to  cross — the  Tom,  of  course,  unfordable 
and  unbridged.  There  is  a  ferryboat  with  paddles, 
worked  by  horses,  walking  round  in  a  circle  on 
the  deck — a  sort  of  bateau  a  cheval.  But  the  ferry- 
man is  a  Siberian. — Antonio  Scarfoglio,  Round 
the  World  in  a  Motor-Car,  p.  298. 

Railway  to  Tomsk 

A  TWO  days'  ride  by  rail  brought  us  from 
Irkutsk  via  Taiga  to  Tomsk,  the  capital  of 
Siberia.  During  this  part  of  the  trip  the 
cars  were  uncomfortably  crowded.  "Platz- 
karten,"  or  reserved  berths,  were  not  hon- 
ored. Through  the  courtesy  of  our  friend, 
the  Russian  physician,  who  went  early  to  the 
railway  station  and  secured  for  us  reserved 
berths,  we  were  provided  with  proper  tick- 
ets, but  they  proved  to  be  of  no  use.  I  was 
ordered  by  the  conductor  to  leave  our  re- 
served quarters,  where  I  was  with  my  wife 
and  babe,  and  was  assigned  to  a  coupe*  for 
men  only.  A  Russian  lady  and  her  daughter, 
and  an  English  maid  to  a  British  dowager, 
were  my  wife's  companions,  while  a  Russian 
Jew,  a  Japanese,  and  a  Hongkong  Britisher 
174 


TOMSK  175 

occupied  the  three  other  berths  of  my  coups' 
—a  typical  illustration  of  the  cosmopolitan 
nature  of  the  travel  on  this  popular  overland 
highway.  During  the  night  this  Japanese 
had  a  constant  skirmish  over  the  matter  of 
ventilation  with  the  American  occupying  the 
opposite  berth.  That  Far  Easterner  wanted 
the  coupe"  hermetically  sealed,  while  the 
Westerner  desired  a  change  of  air.  Before 
the  first  night  was  over  the  Japanese  re- 
treated from  the  renewed  attacks  of  the 
American,  who  kept  opening  the  coupe'  door 
a  little,  as  often  as  the  Japanese  had  closed 
it,  until  finally,  out  of  courtesy  or  despair,  he 
gave  up  the  contest,  and  indulged  in  that 
sound  sleep  that  usually  comes  before  aris- 
ing. The  following  night  a  Yankee  stratagem 
outwitted  the  enemy,  affording  both  a  cessa- 
tion of  hostilities  and  ample  ventilation  all 
night  long.  The  upper  sash  was  opened  a 
few  inches,  but  was  concealed  by  pulling 
down  the  inside  shade,  so  that  this  ruse 
proved  to  be  a  perfect  triumph  of  the  Occi- 
dent over  the  Orient. 

The  congested  condition  of  travel  was  due 
to  the  "Compagnie  Internationale  des 
Wagons  Lits"  neglecting  to  attach  one  of 
their  cars  to  this  Saint  Petersburg  express 
at  Harbin,  as  had  been  promised  by  their 
agent  to  a  party  of  Americans,  so  that  they 
were  all  crowded  into  the  cars  of  our  Russian 
State  Express.  Their  telegrams  to  Vladivo- 


176  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

stok  and  expostulations  to  the  railway  offi- 
cials were  all  of  no  avail.  Two  of  the  party 
had  paid  extra  fare  for  reserving  a  four- 
berth  compartment  for  their  exclusive  use. 
Notwithstanding  this,  two  other  passengers, 
Russians,  were  assigned  to  it,  and  since  these 
Americans  could  not  make  the  officials  under- 
stand, all  their  protestations  and  explana- 
tions proved  futile.  At  Krasnoyarsk  an  old, 
dingy  "Wagons  Lits"  car  was  attached  to 
our  train,  relieving  somewhat  the  conges- 
tion, though  its  American  occupants  com- 
plained of  its  superfluous  dirt  and  dust. 

On  four  different  through  expresses  we 
met  Japanese  of  the  cultured  and  official 
class,  generally  traveling  by  twos.  Were 
they  imitating  Caleb  and  Joshua,  spying  the 
enemy's  land?  Wherever  we  met  the  China- 
man and  accosted  him  in  his  native  tongue 
he  always  showed  a  beaming  countenance, 
radiant  with  joy,  whether  acting  as  a  trained 
linguistic  waiter  on  the  dining  car  or  as 
dealer  in  tea  in  hisi  own  shop  at  Tomsk, 
Irkutsk,  or  other  cities,  or  as  itinerant  vender 
on  the  streets,  or  as  travelers  in  small  com- 
panies on  the  trains  as  far  west  as  Samara 
on  the  Volga. 

After  leaving  Irkutsk  the  old  Siberian 
post-road  could  occasionally  be  seen,  some- 
time on  one  side  of  the  track  and  sometimes 
on  the  other,  recalling  the  seventies  in 
America,  when  the  "prairie  schooner"  trail 


TOMSK  177 

was  easily  recognizable  by  the  side  of 
American  transcontinental  railroad  tracks, 
from  Omaha  to  California. 

Both  days  the  train  passed  through  varie- 
gated scenery.  Now  dense  forests  of  pine, 
fir,  cedar,  larch,  and  birch,  the  latter  just 
beginning  to  leaf  out  in  their  fresh  feathery 
green.  Again,  passing  along  clearings,  we 
would  see  some  miserable-looking  villages  of 
log  cabins,  and  we  would  wonder  how  these 
poor  peasants  ever  managed  to  eke  out  a 
living  during  such  a  short  summer  season. 
In  some  fields  peasants  were  busy  starting 
their  spring  plowing.  In  shady  nooks,  in 
valleys,  and  by  the  banks  of  streams  patches 
of  ice  and  snow  were  still  to  be  seen,  while 
amid  the  rank,  grassy  growth  of  the  steppes 
wild  flowers  were  blooming  in  rich  profusion, 
beautifying  the  landscape  with  their  bright 
colors.  It  was  a  real  delight  to  recognize 
the  familiar  dandelions,  buttercups,  and 
cowslips  of  the  homeland,  besides  large 
patches  of  the  daring  blue  borage  with  its 
pinkish  buds.  The  flora  seemed  to  be  fully 
a  month  behind  that  of  our  home  in  north 
China. 

Fifteen  miles  north  of  the  1,560-feet  long 
bridge  over  the  Oka  are  cliffs,  sculptured 
with  prehistoric  figures  different  from  any 
in  western  Europe.1  After  our  train  had 


1  Greater  Russia,  by  William  Oliver  Greener,  p.  T4. 


178  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

crossed  over  the  Birjussa,  with  its  golden 
sands,  we  left  the  jurisdiction  of  Irkutsk  and 
entered  the  province  of  Yeniseisk. 

Yenisei  River 

Toward  sunset  on  the  afternoon  of  May  26 
our  train  crossed  over  some  islands  in  the 
mighty  Yenisei  Kiver  and  halted  at  the  colos- 
sal electric-lighted  depot  of  Krasnoyarsk. 
In  the  early  twilight  the  city,  with  its  numer- 
ous buildings -and  high-pointed  towers,  pre- 
sented a  very  attractive  appearance.  Kras- 
noyarsk has  a  population  of  some  fifty  thou- 
sand, and  is  capital  of  the  province  of 
Yeniseisk,  which  is  more  than  half  as  large 
as  all  European  Eussia.  It  is  beautifully 
situated  on  the  left  bank  of  the  broad 
Yenisei,  which  here  is  divided  by  islands  into 
several  streams.  The  Yenisei  Kiver  is  the 
largest  in  Asia,  and  opposite  the  city  of 
Krasnoyarsk  is  about  half  a  mile  wide.  It 
rises  in  the  tablelands  of  Mongolia,  five  thou- 
sand feet  above  sea  level,  and  flows  some 
three  thousand  miles  before  emptying  into 
the  Arctic  Ocean.  Several  interesting  excur- 
sions can  be  made  from  Krasnoyarsk  as  a 
center.  By  steamboat  or  post-road  the 
traveler  can  go  northward  two  hundred  miles 
to  the  city  Yeniseisk  and  enjoy  the  strange 
sights  of  the  town  or  inspect  its  museum. 
If  he  has  four  or  five  days  at  his  disposal,  it 
would  well  repay  him  to  make  a  trip  to  the 


TOMSK  179 

Tyrolese-looking  town  of  Minusinsk;  and  if 
he  travels  by  steamer,  the  steep  cliffs  along 
the  banks  will  call  forth  his  admiration.  Its 
city  museum,  containing  over  sixty  thousand 
objects,  well  merits  studying,  as  well  as  do 
the  inhabitants  themselves,  along  with  the 
shepherds  and  farmers,  the  miners  and  hun- 
ters in  their  grotesque  costumes  strolling 
through  the  streets.  A  shorter  outing  may 
be  taken  to  the  interesting  village  of  Bas- 
aicha,  noted  for  its  rock  formations,  com- 
posed of  gigantic  stone  columns.  There  they 
stand,  as  the  fossilized  ruins  of  a  prehistoric 
organ,  like  the  Giants'  Causeway  in  Ireland. 
A  British  physician,  who  crossed  the 
Yenisei  seven  years  before  the  days  of  rail- 
way travel,  describes  the  salient  features  of 
the  traffic  at  that  time.  "Old  topers  would 
have  been  filled  with  a  hankering  desire  at 
the  sight  of  a  caravan,  which  had  just 
crossed  the  river — a  caravan  of  vodka,  great 
hogsheads  on  wheels,  conveying  to  the  settle- 
ments of  eastern  Siberia  the  strong  rye- 
spirit  of  which  Russians  are  so  fond,  and 
which  so  ill  repays  their  fondness.  Mem- 
bers of  temperance  societies  would  have 
been  delighted  to  see  there,  waiting  to  cross 
over,  a  caravan  of  nearly  a  hundred  cart- 
loads of  tea  on  its  way  from  China  to  Europe. 
Those  who  were  too  whimsical  to  look  with 
any  favor  upon  tea  might  yet  find  satisfac- 
tion in  thinking  of  that  simpler  beverage,  of 


180  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

which  they  had  such  an  inexhaustible  supply 
in  the  clear,  cold  waters  of  the  river."1 

The  costly,  substantial  bridge  on  which 
the  railway  crosses  the  Yenisei  has  changed 
all  this.  Dynamite  would  have  blown  this 
fine  structure  into  atoms  and  travel  would 
once  more  have  reverted  to  the  slow,  old- 
fashioned  way,  had  not  the  reckless  revolu- 
tionist been  dissuaded  from  his  design,  when 
von  Plevne  was  blown  to  pieces  instead.2 

Taiga 

The  sun  was  bright  and  the  air  clear  and 
bracing  on  the  morning  of  May  27  when,  at 
10:45  A.  M.,  we  left  the  Saint  Petersburg 
express  at  the  junction  Taiga,  for  Tomsk, 
sixty  miles  northward  off  the  main  line, 
through  this  primitive  forest,  as  the  word 
"Taiga"  signifies.  Somehow  or  other,  this 
small  clearing  in  the  midst  of  this  "forest 
primeval"  of  Siberia  did  not  kindle  in  our 
breasts  any  such  romantic  sentiments  as  in- 
spired Longfellow,  when  he  indited  his  im- 
mortal poem,  "Evangeline."  After  a  delay 
of  only  fifteen  minutes  we  were  on  a  branch 
line  bound  thither.  The  almost  interminable 
stretches  of  forest,  "sad  and  prophetic," 
whose  solemnity  was  now  and  then  relieved 
by  recent  clearings,  pall  on  one's  spirit.  The 

1  Pour    Thousand    Miles    Across    Siberia,    by    Charles 
Wenyon,    M.D.,    p.    212. 

a  Russia  from  Within,  by  Alexander  Ular,  p.   12. 


TOMSK  181 

superstitious  natives  believe  there  is  a  spirit 
which  haunts  these  deep  forest  shades,  and 
try  to  propitiate  it  with  offerings.  Kant  was 
a  renowned  philosopher,  but  no  traveler,  for 
his  biographer  states  that  he  never  wan- 
dered farther  from  his  home  at  Konigsberg 
than  Pillau,  thirty  miles  distant.  Kant  once 
said,  "Two  things  there  are  that  always  fill 
me  with  awe:  the  starry  heavens  above  and 
the  moral  consciousness  within,"  but  Kant 
had  never  seen  the  Taiga. 

The  melancholy  monotony  of  the  three 
hours'  ride  was  broken  by  occasional  glances 
at  the  Siberian  settlers,  gathered  at  the  sta- 
tions in  the  clearings,  conspicuous  for  their 
numerous  stumps  and  few  log  cabins.  They 
had  country  produce,  such  as  eggs,  bread, 
and  bottles  of  milk,  and  also  vodka  for  sale. 

Among  all  these  Siberian  maidens  one 
could  not  pick  out  one  as  charming  as  the 
devoted  heroine  of  Grand  Pre,  Arcadie. 
These  buxom  damsels  evidently  did  not  in- 
herit those  chivalric  traits  exhibited  by  the 
early  French  settlers  in  Nova  Scotia,  whose 
ancestors  loved  to  listen  to  romantic  legends, 
recounted  by  roving  troubadors.  They,  like 
their  ancestors  along  the  Dnieper  and  Don, 
had  daily  to  drudge  in  their  izbas  or  out  in 
the  fields.  Poetry,  romance,  and  love  seldom 
if  ever  brightened  their  dull  days  of  toil. 
When  the  maiden  became  a  mother,  and  her 
babe  was  wailing  or  restless,  it  was  quieted 


182  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

by  a  decoction  of  crude  opium,  obtained  from 
the  exuding  juice  of  the  poppy,  which  is  to 
be  found  in  every  Russian  shanty.1 

Tomsk 

A  neat,  white  depot  in  a  beautiful  grove 
of  white  birch  awaits  the  traveler  on  his 
arrival  at  the  station  of  Tomsk.  This  thriv- 
ing capital  of  Siberia  boasts  of  its  fine  uni- 
versity, two  hundred  and  ten  factories,  and 
four  banks.  We  did  not  loiter  long  at  the 
station,  but,  hiring  two  droskies,  rode  at 
once  to  the  city,  some  two  miles  distant. 

Herds  of  cattle  were  browsing  on  the 
tender,  rich  grass  under  the  birches  in  the 
park.  The  street,  running  northward  toward 
the  city,  as  we  neared  the  suburbs,  passed  by 
large,  handsome  red  brick  buildings,  sur- 
rounded with  spacious  premises  on  a  natural 
rise  of  ground ;  these  were  technical  schools, 
connected  with  the  railway.  The  thorough- 
fare, emerging  from  the  forest  park,  becomes 
a  broad  boulevard  with  sidewalks  and  two 
roadways,  separated  in  the  middle  by  elon- 
gated grassy  plots,  planted  with  poplars  and 
provided  with  paths  and  benches  for  pedes- 
trians. This  highway  had  been  paved  in 
1904,  and  the  main  or  "Post  Office  Street," 
where  are  the  university  and  chief  hotels, 
last  year,  while  work  in  paving  its  western 

1  Russia,  Her  Strength  and  Weakness,  by  Wolf  von 
Schierbrand,  p.  204. 


TOMSK  183 

extension  was  still  in  progress.  Many  of  the 
sidewalks  were  paved  with  boards,  recalling 
streets  in  Chicago  before  the  great  fire. 

The  Russian  drosky-driver  is  a  regular 
Jehu.  He  loves  to  make  his  horse  dash  ahead 
on  a  breakneck  gallop.  The  Society  for  the 
Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Animals  might  do  a 
thriving  business  in  Siberia  and  Russia. 
Their  reckless  driving  so  wrought  upon  the 
sensitive  feelings  of  "The  Lady  of  the  Deco- 
ration," that  she  exclaims :  "If  their  cruelty 
to  horses  is  any  criterion  of  their  cruelty  to 
their  fellow  men,  I  can't  help  feeling  they 
deserve  their  punishment  [defeat  by  the 
Jap'anesej.  The  Chinese  and  Korean,  even 
in  their  brutality,  are  not  as  bad  as  the  ordi- 
nary Russian."1 

Certain  it  is  that  if  one  does  not  want  to 
run  the  risk  of  having  himself  or  his  baggage 
upset  he  must  first  learn  this  indispensable 
phrase,  "Po-ycs-shal  medlenno!"  ("Drive 
slowly!")  As  it  was,  our  forward  drosky, 
carrying  our  valises,  had  scarcely  started  be- 
fore, when  to  our  dismay,  we  beheld  our  light 
wicker  suitcase  go  bouncing  up  into  the  air 
and  fall  down  on  the  roadway — strange  to 
say,  without  bursting  and  scattering  its  con- 
tents on  the  ground. 

The  great  number  and  superior  quality  of 
horses,  harnessed  to  private  equipages  as 

1  The  Lady  of  the  Decoration,  pp.   87,  88. 


184  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

well  as  to  droskies  for  hire,  had  attracted 
our  attention,  so  that  we  were  not  surprised 
to  learn  that  horse-breeding  was  quite  a 
profitable  industry  in  the  outlying  farms. 
We  were,  however,  surprised  to  see  so  many 
droskies  having  rubber  tires.  Carriage  hire 
is  cheap  at  Tomsk.  Forty  kopeks  is  the 
charge  for  the  first  hour,  and  thirty  kopeks 
for  each  following  hour,  while  twenty  kopeks 
(or  ten  cents,  United  States  gold)  is  the 
usual  fare  for  a  short  ride. 

Arriving  at  the  Hotel  Rossiya  (or  "Rus- 
sia"), we  found  that  rooms  had  been  reserved 
for  us,  as  had  been  requested  by  telegram. 
The  obsequious,  incessantly  bowing  hotel 
clerk,  dressed  in  a  swallow-tail  suit,  but 
whose  linguistic  attainments  were  limited  to 
the  Russian  language,  received  us  most  ur- 
banely and  escorted  us  to  the  rooms.  They 
appeared  too  grandiose  for  our  democratic 
taste,  so  we  were  shown  other  apartments, 
and  finally  selected  a  large  room  over-looking 
a  residential  street,  one  flight  up  and  pro- 
vided with  two  windows.  One  of  these  was  a 
French  sash-window,  or  glass  door,  opening 
out  upon  a  small  balcony  over  the  street. 
One  third  of  this  room  was  screened  off  by  a 
wooden  partition  and  curtains,  and  con- 
tained two  beds,  while  there  was  fine  furni- 
ture, as  of  a  parlor,  in  the  remaining  living 
room.  We  partook  of  the  regulation  dinner 
of  four  courses,  served  in  our  room.  During 


TOMSK  185 

the  daytime  the  southern,  sunny  exposure 
made  the  room  pleasantly  warm,  but  toward 
night  the  air  became  so  cool  that  we  found  it 
conducive  to  our  comfort  to  have  the  large 
brick  of  en  heated. 

Our  steady  progress  homeward  was  again 
made  evident,  soon  after  our  arrival,  by  our 
home  mail,  brought  by  a  servant  to  our 
room.  It  included  the  Outlook  of  Kew 
York,  dated  May  8,  and  a  letter  from  the 
same  city  of  May  10.  It  seemed  almost  a 
dream,  that  here  in  the  capital  of  Siberia 
we  should  be  reading  home  news  written 
about  a  fortnight  earlier. 

One  of  our  first  walks  was  toward  the 
heart  of  the  city,  passing  by  large  retail 
stores  with  plate-glass  windows  to  the  mam- 
moth book  and  printing  establishment  of 
Makoushin,  to  whose  great  branch  store  at 
Irkutsk  reference  has  already  been  made. 
We  made  a  call  upon  the  family,  to  whom  we 
had  a  letter  of  introduction,  and  were  cor- 
dially invited  to  an  evening  dinner,  which 
we  declined,  but  accepted  an  invitation  to  an 
afternoon  tea. 

Upon  a  long  table  the  ubiquitous  samovar 
proudly  towered  over  the  lavish  tempting 
array  of  delicious  homemade  buns,  rusks, 
cakes,  thinly  cut  bread,  choice  Siberian  but- 
ter and  cheese,  sliced  ham,  fresh  apples, 
oranges,  etc.,  too  numerous  to  mention.  Rus- 
sian hospitality  is  proverbial,  and  here,  as 


186  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

elsewhere,  we  heartily  enjoyed  not  only  the 
dainty  food  but  also  the  good  cheer  of  our 
hosts.  Their  spacious  apartments  revealed  a 
cultured  taste  and  an  air  of  comfort.  The 
floor  was  of  hard  wood,  over  which  beautiful 
rugs  were  spread,  while  a  piano,  books,  pic- 
tures, and  bric-a-brac  added  an  element  of 
hominess.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Makoushin  with 
their  fifteen-year-old  son  were  present.  The 
father  was  a  prosperous  Siberian  merchant 
of  hardy,  patriarchal  build  and  affable  man- 
ner. He  could  speak  only  Russian,  while 
his  wife  could  converse  in  German,  as  well 
as  in  her  native  tongue.  The  son  could  speak 
English  quite  well  and  French  also.  He  was 
expecting  to  go  in  two  weeks  to  Paris  in 
order  to  pass  an  entrance  examination  for 
the  Lyce'e.  This  young  man  later  acted  as 
cicerone  to  us  on  several  of  our  outings. 

Women  with  Careers 

The  daughter,  we  were  told,  was  just  com- 
pleting her  law  course  in  Paris.  Like  Dr. 
Louise  Robinovitch  and  many  other  Russian 
young  ladies,  she  was  preparing  for  a  career 
of  usefulness.  It  will  be  remembered  that 
Dr.  Louise  Robinovitch,  a  native  of  Odessa, 
Russia,  recently  astonished  the  medical 
world  by  her  novel  discovery  of  electrical 
anaesthesia,  successfully  tried  in  a  hospital 
at  Hartford,  Connecticut.  Her  treatment 
consisted  in  passing  an  electric  current  of 


TOMSK  187 

low  tension  and  frequent  interruption 
through  the  brain  of  the  patient,  thereby 
producing  sleep,  and  so  dispensing  with 
drugs  as  anaesthetics.1 

Women  in  Russia  have  to  be  reckoned  with, 
whether  on  or  off  the  throne,  foreign  or  na- 
tive, Catherine  II,  or  Sophie  Perovskaya,2 
Catherine  Breshkovsky,  or  Dr.  Louise  Robin- 
ovitch,  or  the  thousands  of  earnest,  unnamed, 
self-renunciating  women  of  learning,  who  go 
from  town  to  village,  teaching  the  poor  igno- 
rant peasant  the  first  principles  of  liberty 
and  human  rights.  A  keen  German  observer 
recently  said :  "The  young  women  in  Russia 
are  more  frequently  than  anywhere  else 
possessed  with  a  life-ideal.  I  would  often 
hear  them  say,  'I  will  not  live  a  useless  life, 
merely  going  from  one  corner  of  the  room  to 
the  other.'  Then  also  girls  of  respectable 
houses,  and,  indeed,  married  women,  espouse 
a  career,  in  order,  as  far  as  in  them  lies,  to 
help  in  the  support  of  the  family.  In  no 
country  of  Europe  is  there  to  be  found 
among  the  young  people  such  a  striving  to 
make  themselves  useful,  and  to  exert  them- 
selves for  the  welfare  of  mankind,  so  as  to 
have  those  around  them  free  and  happy. 
This  ideal  of  helpfulness  has  been  dominant 

1  Harper's    Weekly,    March    5,    1910. 

1  The  most  famous  woman  revolutionist,  belonging 
to  the  highest  nobility,  and  the  first  woman  to  die  on 
the  scaffold  in  Russia  for  a  political  offense. 


188  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

for  some  forty  years.  Young  ladies  who  at 
home  keep  in  their  stables  ponies — half  Eng- 
lish thoroughbred — have  these  later  years 
gone  away  into  the  dangerous  famine  dis- 
tricts and  distributed  bread  to  the  famish- 
ing."1 Such  is  the  fervent,  loving,  loyal  spirit 
of  young  womanhood  in  Russia  to-day. 

The  Black  Hundred 

One  afternoon,  as  we  were  out  riding  near 
the  public  square,  young  Makoushin  pointed 
out  the  governor's  residence — a  low,  quaint 
bungalow — which  had  been  plundered  by  the 
"Black  Hundred"  in  1905,  during  those  dark 
days  of  blood  and  loot.  His  uncle  held  the 
office  of  governor  at  that  time,  "but,"  he  in- 
formed us,  "they  did  not  kill  him."  He  also 
showed  us  the  extensive  gutted  brick  build- 
ings of  the  Trans-Siberian  Railway  and  the 
adjoining  theater,  which  the  same  mob  of 
rioters  had  set  on  fire,  after  looting  the 
vaults  of  the  railway  company.  Those  were 
exciting  times,  as  the  days  of  the  auto-da- 
fe  in  Madrid,  Spain.  The  brutal  official 
butcheries  at  Kishinev  were  perpetrated  by 
this  same  secret  society,  the  "Black  Hun- 
dred." "Men  were  burned  alive  by  the  hun- 
dred in  Tomsk ;  women  were  cruelly  tortured 
in  Odessa,  .  .  .  and  there  were  more  men, 
women,  and  children  killed  in  that  one  city 

1  Russland  in  XX  Jahrhundert,  by  M.  L.  Schlesinger, 
Berlin,  1908. 


TOMSK  189 

in  the  course  of  a  single  month  than  in  all 
France  during  the  great  Revolution."1 

This  "Black  Hundred"  was  an  association 
of  rascals,  which  a  patriotic  Russian  curtly 
informed  us  was  "like  Tammany,  New  York, 
you  know."  This  secret  organization  was 
used  by  the  governmental  party  to  counter- 
act the  efforts  of  the  Revolutionists,  and  is 
also  called  "The  Union  of  the  True  Russian 
People."2 

University  of  Tomsk 

The  University  of  Tomsk — the  only  uni- 
versity in  all  Siberia — is  finely  located  on 
the  main  street,  near  the  center  of  the  city. 
It  has  a  well-kept  campus  in  front  of  its 
main  buildings.  The  grassy  border  of  the 
wide  sidewalk  outside  the  campus  was 
planted  in  an  economical  and,  to  us,  novel 
way.  There  were  two  rows  of  poplar  trees. 
The  inner  row  had  been  allowed  free  growth 
until  the  trees  had  attained  a  height  of  about 
thirty  feet.  Then  the  upper  section  of  ten 
feet  had  been  lopped  off  and  planted,  as  is 
done  with  willow-saplings,  on  the  outer  edge 
of  the  grass-plot,  forming  the  second  row  of 
shade  trees.  Both  of  these  rows  seemed  to 
be  flourishing. 

The  largest  and,  in  some  respects,  the  most 

1  Dr.   Dillon,    in  the  Contemporary  Review,   December, 
1905,  p.  88S. 

2  The  Reaction  in   Russia,   by  George  Kennan,   In  the 
Century,   June   and   July,    1910. 


190  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

imposing  and  substantial  buildings  in  Tomsk 
are  the  University  buildings.  Its  new  large 
technical  school  in  architecture  may  well 
rival  any  in  Western  lands.  Its  medical 
department  is  especially  flourishing.  Under 
the  existing  regime  at  Saint  Petersburg  we 
would  naturally  expect  that  a  theological  de- 
partment, including  comparative  religions, 
and  a  legal  faculty,  explaining  and  emphasiz- 
ing legal  rights  of  man,  whether  based  on 
the  Mosaic  law  or  the  Napoleonic  code, 
would  be  kept  in  abeyance,  and  such  is  the 
fact.  No  such  restriction,  however,  rests 
upon  the  medical  department,  .so  we  look 
with  unbounded  admiration  on  the  new,  im- 
posing, solidly  built  and  artistically  con- 
structed Clinic,  occupying  a  whole  block,  and 
also  wonder  at  the  fine,  well-equipped  Bac- 
teriological Institute,  away  out  here  in  the 
very  heart  of  the  wilds  of  Siberia. 

This  University  was  opened  just  two  dec- 
ades ago,  in  1889.  It  has  some  two  thou- 
sand students  and  a  library  of  one  hundred 
thousand  volumes,  and  its  privately  endowed 
Scholarship  Fund  amounts  to  $2,500,000, 
United  States  gold.1 

Its  museum  possesses  large  collections  of 
rare  curios,  but  they  are  housed  in  cramped, 
crowded  rooms,  utterly  inadequate  for  such 
fine  specimens,  some  of  which  belong  to  the 

1  Siberia :  A  Record  of  Travel,  Climbing,  and  Explo- 
ration, by  S.  Turner,  p.  99. 


TOMSK  191 

Bronze  Age,  recently  unearthed  from  mounds 
discovered  near  the  sources  of  the  Yenisei. 
It  is  particularly  rich  in  objects  illustrative 
of  native  tribes  throughout  Siberia.  Our 
guide  showed  us  some  specimens  of  American 
Indian  workmanship,  which  had  been  pre- 
sented by  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  Wash- 
ington, D.  C.,  and  compared  these  with  va- 
rious articles  made  by  Tungus  and  Aleutians, 
such  as  birch-bark  canoes,  fancy  translucent 
fishskin  garments,  and  also  bead  work  on 
leather  made  by  the  natives  living  along  the 
Amur  Kiver,  long  before  Columbus  dis- 
covered America. 

Windows  and  Wedding 

Why  everywhere  in  Siberia  a  glass  tumbler 
holding  a  fluid  was  placed  on  the  inner  win- 
dow sill  between  the  double-sash  windows, 
which  are  needed  to  ward  off  the  severe  cold 
of  winter,  we  could  not  understand,  until 
the  explanation  was  given  that  the  fluid  in 
the  tumblers  was  ammonia  in  solution, 
placed  there  to  prevent  the  formation  of 
vapor  on  the  panes  of  glass  which  otherwise 
would  obscure  the  view. 

Looking  out  of  those  double-sashed  win- 
dows of  the  Makoushin  mansion  one  after- 
noon, we  saw  carriages  draw  up  before  the 
old  Greek  Cathedral,  where  a  crowd  quickly 
gathered.  Madame  Makoushin  told  us  that 
it  was  a  Russian  wedding,  and  advised  us  to 


192  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

go  over  and  witness  the  ceremony.  So  her 
son  gallantly  offered  to  escort  us.  We 
hastened  across  the  street  and  entered  the 
Cathedral.  Going  inside  the  reserved  corded 
space,  he  led  us  to  a  favorable  standing  place, 
for  he  was  well  known  to  the  officiating 
priest.  From  this  vantage  ground  we  eagerly 
watched  the  wedding  ceremony,  so  novel  to 
us.  The  priest,  clothed  in  gorgeous  yellow 
robes,  had  a  most  peculiar  head  of  brown 
hair,  which  stood  out  stiffly  all  around  his 
head,  instinctively  reminding  one  of  the 
comic  pictures  of  a  mischievous  boy  so 
frightened  that  each  hair  stood  on  end. 
However,  there  was  nothing  comical  in  the 
ceremony,  but,  as  in  most  Greek  Church  serv- 
ices, all  was  solemn  and  symbolic.  As  usual, 
the  music  throughout  the  ceremony  was 
especially  rich  and  thrilling,  and  particu- 
larly fine  were  the  deep,  mellow  notes  of  the 
priest,  wearing  the  fantastic  Circassian  head 
of  hair.  "Without  effort,  the  voice  of  the 
priest  was  the  sound  of  virile,  unexhausted, 
elemental  vocality  itself,  suppressed,  puri- 
fied, beautified  by  devotion  and  lofty  spir- 
itual feeling."1 

The  expectant  couple,  in  holiday  attire,  did 
not  stand  before  the  altar  but  in  the  center 
of  the  room.  The  priest  led  them  by  the 
hand  to  their  proper  positions  and  then  gave 

1  The  Russian  Advance,  by  Albert  J.  Beveridge,  p. 
349. 


TOMSK  193 

each  a  lighted  candle,  symbolizing  caution  in 
looking  before  they  leaped  into  wedded  life. 
After  considerable  singing  and  reading,  the 
priest  lifted  the  heavy  Bible  from  the  lectern 
and  presented  it  in  turn  to  bridegroom  and 
bride  to  kiss,  indicating  that  this  book 
should  be  reverenced  as  their  guide  through 
life.  Then  he  dipped  two  gold  rings  into 
holy  water  and,  after  pronouncing  his  bless- 
ing, handed  one  to  each  of  the  bridal  pair. 
The  man  placed  his  upon  the  middle  finger  of 
the  woman,  who  did  the  same  on  the  middle 
finger  of  her  future  husband,  symbolic  that 
each  belonged  to  the  other.  After  this  two 
lofty  golden  crowns  were  produced.  One 
was  placed  upon  the  bridegroom's  head  and 
the  other  upon  the  bride's,  symbolizing  that 
the  man  was  to  be  king  and  the  woman  queen 
in  their  new  home.  Then,  as  if  to  restrain 
them  from  becoming  unduly  elated  by  these 
assured  regal  rights,  he  threw  a  long  wide 
scarf  around  their  clasped  hands  and  rather 
unceremoniously  led  them  both  on  a  quick 
pace  three  times  around  the  lectern,  on  which 
lay  the  Bible  and  a  crucifix,  thereby  declar- 
ing that  the  truth  and  love  of  God  should  be 
the  center  of  all  their  actions.  The  sacra- 
ment of  the  Lord's  Supper  was  then  par- 
taken and  the  crucifix  kissed,  thus  emphasiz- 
ing the  sacrificial  nature  of  God's  love,  which 
their  lives  should  exemplify.  Finally,  to 
manifest  that  marriage  is  honorable,  so  that 


194  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

no  one  entering  wisely  into  its  holy  precincts 
need  ever  be  ashamed,  they  kissed  each  other 
in  public  and  the  ecclesiastical  ceremony 
was  over.  At  this  moment  loving  relatives 
and  friends  began  cordially  to  greet  the 
happy  pair,  and  the  glad  bells  in  the  Ca- 
thedral tower  above  chimed  their  hearty 
approval. 

Market  Place 

The  widely  extended  market  place,  with 
its  ever-changing,  strangely  clad  crowds, 
shifting  amid  the  busy  shops  and  stalls, 
where  meat,  game,  vegetables,  fruit,  and 
other  produce,  and  also  farming  and  house- 
hold utensils,  articles  of  clothing,  as  well  as 
clumsily  made  toys,  were  sold,  was  always 
an  unfailing  source  of  attraction  to  us, 
whether  we  were  leisurely  sauntering  or 
slowly  riding  along.  One  morning,  noticing 
some  bunches  of  fine-looking  radishes,  we  in- 
quired the  price  and  were  told  thirty  kopeks 
per  bunch.  Thinking  the  price  too  high,  we 
ordered  the  coachman  to  drive  on,  where- 
upon the  peasant  woman  rushed  out  of  her 
stall  and  ran  after  our  drosky  and  threw  a 
fine,  bright-red  specimen  of  a  radish  into 
little  Marion's  lap,  as  if  to  show  that  she 
was  not  really  so  avaricious  as  she  might 
seem  to  be.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  on  our 
next  visit  there  we  purchased  some  of  her 
tempting  wares. 


TOMSK  195 

Carriage  Ride 

One  afternoon  we  rode  in  a  drosky  up  the 
steep  winding  incline  at  the  eastern  extrem- 
ity of  the  city  and  enjoyed  the  extensive 
views  from  the  edge  of  the  vast  eastern 
steppe,  which  stretches  far  away  toward 
Lake  Baikal.  The  city  of  Tomsk  lies  so  low 
near  the  foot  of  this  steppe  that  formerly, 
only  a  few  miles  away,  this  low-lying  city 
could  not  be  seen.  Not  many  years  previous 
a  party  of  nearly  one  hundred  soldiers  and 
returning  emigrants,  losing  the  post-road  by 
a  heavy  fall  of  snow,  perished,  and  some  of 
the  frozen  corpses  of  the  party  were  after- 
ward picked  up  within  three  miles  of  the  city 
limits.  Such  a  catastrophe  would  be  almost 
impossible  now,  since  these  cliffs  along  the 
edge  of  the  steppe  are  being  covered  with 
churches  and  residences,  visible  for  long  dis- 
tances. From  these  surrounding  bluffs,  to- 
ward sunset,  when  the  twilight  glow  illu- 
mined the  numerous  green  domes,  cupolas, 
towers,  and  roofs  of  the  city,  spread  out  on 
the  plain  below,  the  outlook  bore  a  striking 
resemblance  to  a  somewhat  similar  scene 
from  the  heights  of  Walnut  Hills,  overlook- 
ing Cincinnati. 

Near  the  market  by  the  stream  Uschaika, 
dividing  the  city  into  two  parts,  we  could 
look  down  from  the  bridge  spanning  the 
creek  and  see  the  many  motor  boats  which 
ply  across  the  Tom  River  to  a  riverine  re- 


196  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

sort  and  to  the  summer  houses  on  its  oppo- 
site side. 

Street  Sights 

The  long  evenings,  when  the  sunshine 
lasted  toward  nine  o'clock,  were  highly  rel- 
ished by  the  natives.  At  Saint  Petersburg 
we  met  a  Kussian  who  had  lived  some  time 
in  New  York.  He  stated  that  he  disliked  the 
American  summers,  where  one  swelters  under 
the  fierce  heat,  and  the  twilights  are  so  short, 
whereas  in  his  Kussian  home  he  could  enjoy 
the  long,  delightful  summer  evenings.  Be- 
fore retiring  we  would  take  a  glance  out  of 
our  front  windows  and  notice  citizens  still 
enjoying  the  long-drawn-out  twilight — most 
reasonably  so,  when  one  thinks  of  their  hiber- 
nating for  half  a  year  or  longer  in  their 
stuffy  winter  quarters.  Some  evenings,  even 
after  eleven  o'clock,  we  would  step  out  on 
our  little  balcony  to  "view  the  landscape 
o'er."  Even  at  that  late  hour  a  rosy  glow 
would  be  visible  on  the  western  horizon,  so 
that  the  streets  were  not  yet  real  dark,  while 
the  contours  of  the  Greek  churches  and  the 
upper  parts  of  city  buildings  would  cast 
clear-cut  silhouettes  against  the  bright  sky. 

The  stately  public  buildings  and  attractive 
stores,  having  large  plate-glass  show-win- 
dows, in  Siberian  cities,  like  Irkutsk  and 
Tomsk,  were  as  great  a  revelation  to  us  as 
were  those  of  Portland,  Oregon,  in  1877,  be- 


TOMSK  197 

fore  that  enterprising  city  on  the  Pacific 
slope  was  linked  to  the  great  transconti- 
nental lines  of  railroad. 

Benches  along  the  main  streets  in  front  of 
stores  and  in  residential  streets  before  citi- 
zens' homes  are  quite  an  institution  in 
Irkutsk  and  Tomsk.  One  day  as  we  were 
coming  from  the  post  office,  on  the  main 
street  at  Tomsk,  we  were  accosted  by  a  Rus- 
sian traveler,  whom  we  had  met  several  times 
in  the  dining  car  between  Harbin  and 
Irkutsk,  and  on  whom  we  had  practiced 
Russian.  He  seemed  delighted  to  meet  us 
again,  and  proposed  our  sitting  down  on  one 
of  these  public  benches  nearby,  so  that  we 
might  converse  at  our  leisure.  This  we  did, 
as  we  gazed  upon  the  droskies  and  basket- 
like  telegas  dashing  past  in  the  street,  and 
the  crowds,  some  briskly  and  others  leisurely 
promenading  on  the  sidewalks.  We  found 
out  that  he  was  planning  to  proceed  toward 
Russia  on  the  same  train  with  us.  He  told 
us  that  he  was  a  Mohammedan  from  Vladivo- 
stok, where  he  had  been  engaged  in  shipping 
meat  by  cold  storage  from  Australia  to  that 
port,  and  now  he  was  on  his  way  to  Caucasia. 

Receiving  Prison 

In  our  desire  to  see  as  much  as  possible 
of  the  life  of  a  place,  we  would  often  wander 
into  side  streets.  Once  in  Tomsk,  as  we 
were  so  walking,  we  heard  rough-sounding 


198  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

voices,  and,  looking  up,  saw  many  windows 
of  a  broad,  high  building,  crowded  with  con- 
victs, clothed  in  earthen-colored  garments, 
and  many  with  iron  chains  on  their  wrists. 
Unintentionally  we  had  stumbled  upon  one 
of  the  large  receiving  prisons,  for  which 
Tomsk  has  an  unsavory  reputation.  In- 
stantly the  horrors  of  Siberian  prison  life, 
as  described  by  George  Kennan,  were  con- 
jured up  from  our  memories.  An  uncanny 
feeling  startled  and  oppressed  us.  Hastily 
we  quickened  our  steps  to  escape  from  the 
sight  and  sounds  of  this  horrid  spot.  Ever 
afterward  in  our  strolls  we  were  careful  to 
keep  away  from  that  detested  place,  although 
only  one  block  away  was  located  a  prosper- 
ous young  ladies'  seminary.  One  day  we 
rode  by  a  grove  in  a  fashionable  quarter, 
where  were  buildings  connected  with  a  popu- 
lar Cafe"  Chantant,  but  young  Mr.  Makou- 
shin's  comment  upon  it  was,  "Not  good." 

City  Park 

A  large  city  park,  ornamentally  laid  out 
with  winding  walks,  planted  with  trees  and 
shrubbery,  and  provided  with  refreshment 
booths,  where  cakes,  kumiss,  ices,  and  other 
delicacies  were  in  brisk  demand,  was  a  fa- 
vorite resort  for  the  multitude,  as  well  as  for 
our  trio,  since  it  was  only  one  block  away 
from  our  hotel.  We  would  frequently 
saunter  around  the  paths  or  sit  down  on  one 


TOMSK  199 

of  the  many  benches  and  watch  the  peasants 
in  their  odd  costumes  and  the  school  chil- 
dren at  their  sprightly  games.  Crowds 
gather  in  this  park  evenings  as  well  as  dur- 
ing the  day.  Late  one  afternoon  workmen 
were  busy  decorating  a  portion  of  these 
pleasure  grounds  with  gala  flags  and  fancy 
lanterns  for  a  '"Firemen's  Show." 

Special  playgrounds  were  set  apart  for 
the  children.  One  space  was  full  of  nimble, 
rollicking  urchins,  exercising  on  swings, 
horizontal  and  parallel  bars,  rings  fastened 
to  hanging  ropes,  vertical  ladders,  and  sim- 
ilar apparatus.  In  another  space  there  was 
a  miniature  slide-hill,  on  which  a  smooth, 
round  log  about  a  foot  thick  and  fifty  feet 
long  was  so  fixed  on  a  slant  that  one's  own 
weight  would  send  him  sliding  down.  Off  at 
arm's  length  at  one  side  was  a  smooth  rail- 
ing, which  could  be  touched  to  steady  the 
timid  or  save  the  luckless  from  a  fall.  This  Si- 
berian sport,  we  thought,  was  an  improvement 
on  our  old-fashioned  American  fun  of  sliding 
down  a  cellar  door,  so  exciting  in  our  child- 
hood days.  We  never  wearied  watching  the 
constantly  changing,  brightly  colored  stream 
of  happy,  ruddy-faced  boys  and  girls,  who, 
like  Tennyson's  "Brook,"  seemed  to  "go  on 
forever."  One  little  tot,  apparently  four 
years  old,  would  take  his  turn  in  sliding 
down  the  log,  trudging  uphill  and  then  to- 
bogganing down  again,  with  as  much  zest  as 


200  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

his  playmates  twice  or  thrice  his  age.  Oiie 
little  maiden,  not  yet  in  her  teens,  carefully 
held  in  her  lap  her  baby  sister,  while  with 
the  other  hand  she  steadied  herself  by  holding 
on  to  the  side-rail.  Handicapped  as  she  was, 
she  never  seemed  to  have  enough  of  the  play, 
and  her  gleeful  face  said  that  she  was  hav- 
ing, in  the  anglicized  phrase  of  a  Chinese 
youth,  "a  lot  of  funs." 

Dentists 

Another  American  enterprise,  besides  sew- 
ing machines,  kodaks,  typewriters,  cash 
registers,  gramophones,  and  other  Yankee  no- 
tions, had  apparently  found  its  way  into 
Siberia's  capital,  and  that  was  dentistry. 
Judging  from  the  numerous  signs  of  dentists 
and  dental  schools  displayed  on  the  main  and 
side  streets,  Tomsk  ought  to  encourage  a 
profitable  export  trade  along  the  dental  line. 
Such  a  bountiful  supply  of  dentists  ought  to 
more  than  suffice  to  repair  the  jaws  not  only 
of  all  its  own  citizens  and  all  the  strangers 
within  its  gates,  but  also  all  the  tribes  of 
Aleuts,  Buriats,  Tungus,  and  Kirghis  roam- 
ing over  Siberian  soil. 

Yellow  Literature 

It  did  seem  a  pity — but  perhaps  it  cannot 
be  helped  at  present — to  see  "yellow  litera- 
ture" for  sale.  It  was  vauntingly  displayed 
at  newspaper  kiosks,  where  were  small  paper- 


TOMSK  201 

covered  pamphlets,  illustrated  with  pictures 
of  masked  assassins,  robberies,  and  murders, 
before  which  stood  groups  of  youthful  ad- 
mirers. Several  years  ago  heathen  Chinese 
officials  in  Peking  prohibited  the  sale  of  ob- 
jectionable pictures  on  their  streets  on  the 
ground  that  they  corrupted  the  morals  of 
the  people. 

The  baleful  influence  of  this  cheap  litera- 
ture has  been  noticed  in  a  recent  number  of 
the  Outlook,  New  York,  October  1,  1910: 
"Without  attempting  to  fix  or  apportion  the 
responsibility  for  the  general  disregard  of 
property  and  personal  rights  in  Russia,  we 
may  point  out  the  existence  of  a  cause  of 
crime  to  which  attention  has  never  been 
directly  called  either  by  the  government  or 
by  its  enemies,  and  that  is  the  unrestricted 
circulation  of  criminal  literature.  In  con- 
nection with  the  recent  exhibition  of  books 
and  periodicals  in  Saint  Petersburg,  the  De- 
partment of  Press  Affairs  compiled,  for  the 
information  of  visitors,  a  statistical  classifi- 
cation of  all  the  books  published  in  the  Rus- 
sian empire  in  the  year  1909.  From  this 
classification  it  appears  that,  in  point  of  cir- 
culation, the  literature  of  crime  takes  fourth 
place  (after  schoolbooks,  almanacs,  and 
tracts),  with  585  separate  titles  and  8,981,- 
520  copies.  The  books  which  make  up  this 
immense  class  are  all  intended  for  circula- 
tion among  the  peasants,  are  sold  at  an 


202  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

average  price  of  three  cents  each,  and  are 
collectively  known  to  the  Kussian  book-trade 
as  'Pinkerton  Stories.'  They  may  be  de- 
scribed as  flimsy  'penny  dreadfuls/  whose 
paper  covers  are  embellished  with  cheap 
colored  pictures  of  crime  or  the  instruments 
of  crime,  and  whose  contents  may  be  inferred 
from  their  titles,  some  of  which  are :  A  Nest 
of  Criminals,  The  Man  with  Three  Fingers, 
The  Bloody  Altar,  The  Revenge  of  the  Es- 
caped Convict,  The  Corpse  of  the  Gold- 
Seeker,  The  Bloody  Pavilion,  The  Two- 
Footed  Wolf,  A  Mysterious  Crime,  The 
Bloody  Talisman,  The  Church  Robber,  Mod- 
ern Inquisitors,  Kidnapers  of  Girls,  The 
Incendiary,  A  Sect  of  Murderers,  Secret  Bul- 
lets, Lynch  Law,  and  The  Manufacture  of 
Counterfeit  Money." 

Legend  and  History 

One  of  the  sights  of  Tomsk  is  the  tomb  of 
Theodore  Kusmitsch,  who  died  in  1861.  This 
tomb  is  erected  in  the  cemetery  of  the  Alex- 
ander Monastery  on  the  heights  above  the 
center  of  the  city.  A  popular  legend,  based 
on  the  resemblance  of  this  ascetic  to  the 
Tsar,  Alexander  I,  and  fostered  by  the 
priests,  is  that  Alexander  I  did  not  die  in 
southern  Russia,  but  escaped  in  disguise  to 
Tomsk,  where  he  lived  as  a  hermit,  under  the 
name  of  Theodore  Kusmitsch.  This  rumor 
is  believed  by  many  devotees,  who  flock  to 


TOMB  OF  THEODORE  KUSMITSCH,  TOMSK 


TOMSK  203 

worship  at  his  tomb.  It  was  this  legend 
that  worked  such  an  overpowering  weird 
spell  over  Count  Leo  Tolstoy  that  the  octo- 
genarian novelist  stealthily  stole  away  from 
his  comfortable  home,  in  the  pathetic  at- 
tempt to  imitate  Kusmitsch.  All  the  world 
knows  how  he,  finally  succumbing  at  a  lonely 
railway  station,  abruptly  met  his  tragic  fate. 
The  nunnery  in  which  Tsar  Peter  II  com- 
pelled his  bride,  Princess  Katherine  Dol- 
goroukaya,  to  take  the  veil,  and  where  she 
was  immured  two  years,  until  released  by 
Empress  Elizabeth,  has  been  razed  to  the 
ground  and  now  the  fine  Greek  Church  of  the 
Incarnation  occupies  the  old  site. 

Other  Faiths 

Tomsk  exhibits  a  surprising  liberal  spirit 
toward  other  faiths.  Besides  two  Greek 
Cathedrals  and  innumerable  Greek  churches, 
there  are  sacred  edifices  dedicated  to  the 
Mohammedan,  Hebrew,  Roman  Catholic,  and 
Protestant  faiths. 

In  one  quarter  of  the  city  stands  a  lone 
Mohammedan  mosque,  with  its  tall,  slender 
minaret,  where  the  muezzin  stands  and  calls 
the  faithful  to  prostrations  and  prayers. 
How  did  this  lonely  mosque  ever  spring  up 
on  this  wild  Siberian  soil?  Could  it  be 
possible  that  some  descendants  of  the  Mame- 
lukes, who  had  been  sold  into  Egyptian 
slavery  by  Genghis  Khan,  after  long  listen- 


204  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

ing  to  the  legendary  tales  of  their  forbears, 
became  suddenly  possessed  with  a  resolve  to 
seek  out  those  boundless  ancestral  steppes, 
and  so  left  the  alluring  city  of  Cairo,  with  its 
one  thousand  mosques,  bringing  with  them 
the  seed  of  this  solitary,  graceful  minaret, 
which  so  astonished  our  eyes  to-day? 

Here  also  we  find  a  Jewish  synagogue. 
How  did  this  colony  of  Jews  ever  come  to 
settle  here?  Were  they  of  that  company  of 
Israelites  who  in  the  dim  centuries  of  the 
past  halted  here,  preferring  to  remain  on 
this  side  of  Jordan  than  to  wander  farther 
toward  the  promised  "land  of  Sinim,"  the 
ruins  of  whose  old  synagogue  have  lately 
been  discovered  inside  the  walled  city  of  Kai- 
Feng-fu,  on  the  banks  of  the  Yellow  River? 

Then,  again,  we  distinguished  the  charac- 
teristic cross  on  the  lofty  steeple  of  the  Ro- 
man Catholic  church.  Do  these  Romanists 
claim  descent  from  the  followers  of  Saint 
Thomas,  who  is  said  to  have  visited  India, 
just  over  the  border  of  southern  Siberia,  or, 
perchance,  of  Xavier,  who  later  labored 
there? 

Authentic  history  states  that  Catherine  II 
induced  many  German  Protestants  to  settle 
on  the  fertile  land  in  southeastern  Rus- 
sia, and  bestowed  upon  them  special  privi- 
leges, including  freedom  of  worship.  Ekater- 
inburg, Ekaterinodar,  Ekaterinoslaw,  Eka- 
terinowka,  and  many  other  places,  in  which 


TOMSK  205 

her  name  is  interwoven,  indicate  how  highly 
this  liberal-minded  empress  was  esteemed 
by  these  thrifty  Teutons.  Kecently  many  of 
these  German-speaking  subjects  have  mi- 
grated into  "Greater  Russia." 

Repulsive  Painting 

The  Lutheran  church  at  Tomsk,  a  neat, 
homelike  structure,  is  admirably  located  op- 
posite the  City  Park.  However,  as  soon  as 
one  enters  the  sacred  edifice,  he  is  startled 
and  shocked  by  a  large  painting  directly  in 
front.  The  conspicuous  painting  represents 
the  Christ  in  a  kneeling,  agonizing  posture 
in  the  garden  of  Gethsemane,  limned  in  a 
most  revoltingly  realistic  manner.  God  is 
love,  and  his  "love  divine,  all  love  excelling," 
reveals  itself  not  only  in  Gethsemane  and  on 
Calvary,  but  also  at  Bethlehem,  Bethany,  and 
everywhere  as  he  "went  about  doing  good." 
So  do  we  find  him  portrayed  in  the  great 
masterpieces. 

In  the  celebrated  fresco  of  "The  Last 
Judgment,"  painted  on  the  inner  wall  of  the 
Sistine  Chapel,  Michelangelo  depicted  Christ 
in  the  prime  of  his  vigorous  manhood,  acting 
as  divine  Arbitrator  in  deciding  the  destinies 
of  mankind.  Raphael  and  Murillo  loved  to 
paint  over  and  over  again  the  miracle  of  the 
incarnation.  Thorwaldsen  sculptured  his 
monumental  Christ  with  extended  arms  of 
blessing  and  invitation,  so  that  as  with 


206  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

wondrous  rapture  we  gaze  at  his  colossal 
Christ,  in  the  Lutheran  cathedral  of  "Our 
Lady,"  at  Copenhagen,  we  can  almost  hear 
his  gracious  words  saying,  "Come  unto  me." 

Some  such  incidents  in  the  loving,  trium- 
phant life  of  Christ  are  far  more  uplifting 
and  inspiring  for  the  house  of  God.  Vast, 
stately  cathedrals,  like  those  at  Cologne, 
Toledo,  and  Chartres  may  impress  the  wor- 
shiper with  divine  awe,  as  is  right  and  meet 
in  God's  holy  temple.  But  this  divine  awe, 
if  truly  contemplated,  is  so  overwhelming  in 
its  very  infinitude,  that  we  need  a  reminder 
of  the  very  essence  of  Deity,  love.  So  we 
joyfully  welcome  the  genial  warmth  of  the 
sun's  rays,  which  stream  through  the  ex- 
quisitely beautiful  stained-glass  windows  of 
these  cathedrals,  radiantly  illumining  the 
familiar  biblical  stories  of  faith,  hope,  and 
love,  and  lavishly  throwing  a  mass  of  won- 
drous rainbow  tints  on  the  cold  pavement 
below. 

Now,  this  painting  in  the  Tomsk  Lutheran 
church  represents  our  Saviour  excruciatingly 
jaded,  indescribably  sad  and  appallingly 
ghastly.  Either  it  ought  to  be  removed  at 
once,  or  its  counterpart,  illustrating  some 
incident  in  his  joyful,  merciful,  or  trium- 
phant life,  should  also  hang  there  to  counter- 
act this  repellent  spectacle.  Otherwise,  if 
we  belonged  to  that  communion,  nothing  but 
deep  religious  conviction  could  ever  induce 


TOMSK  207 

us  to  attend  the  services  there  Sunday  after 
Sunday.  Rather  would  we  be  inclined  to 
join  the  earnest  throngs  who  flock  to  the 
many  Greek  churches,  so  attractive  with  their 
superb  music,  gorgeous  rites,  and  handsome 
icons,  revealing  the  benign  Madonna  and  the 
infant  Christ  in  all  his  innocent  loveliness. 

Cathedral  Service 

It  chanced  to  be  Whitsunday  during  our 
stay  at  Tomsk,  and  we  managed  to  wedge 
our  way  into  the  new  Cathedral  amid  surg- 
ing crowds  of  zealous  worshipers,  where  rich 
and  poor  met  together.  Compared  with  the 
Pharisaic  exclusiveness  in  some  of  our 
American  Protestant  churches,  this  free 
commingling  of  rich  and  poor  in  their  com- 
mon worship  of  God  was  most  refreshing. 
True  theocracy  it  was,  when  in  this  Cathe- 
dral the  splendid  uniforms  of  the  army  of- 
ficers and  the  broadcloth  suits  of  the  wealthy 
citizens,  along  with  the  costly  furs  and  vel- 
vets of  the  ladies,  brushed  by  the  side  of  the 
tattered  felt  and  ragged  sheepskin  of  the 
peasants.  In  the  presence  of  God  the 
millionaire  and  the  beggar  stand  equal.  In- 
deed, are  we  not  all,  in  the  sight  of  our 
heavenly  Father,  equally  his  children 
throughout  life,  as  well  as  in  the  hour  and 
article  of  death?  Especially  appropriate  is 
it  to  remember  and  emphasize  this  whole- 
some truth  in  the  house  of  God. 


208  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

The  aged  and  infirm  would  find  this  Greek 
worship,  though  varied  by  almost  incessant 
prostrations  and  crossings,  very  wearisome. 
The  prescribed  posture,  apart  from  those 
above  mentioned,  is  standing,  and  the  serv- 
ice is  by  no  means  brief.  This  standing  at- 
titude in  worship  contrasts  strikingly  with 
that  of  the  ordinary  pampered  American  con- 
gregation, who  complacently,  if  not  resign- 
edly, are  seated  in  their  reserved  uphol- 
stered pews. 

Participating  in  Russian  church  services 
means  the  practice  along  devotional  lines  of 
"La  Vie  Intense,"  as  "The  Strenuous  Life," 
by  Roosevelt,  has  been  rendered  in  French, 
and  putting  forth  extra  effort  as  in  the  good 
old  days,  when  the  prophets  urged  the  peo- 
ple, saying,  "Come  ye  and  let  us  go  up"  to 
the  Lord's  house,  established  on  the  top  of 
the  mountains.  Downhill-going  is  easy,  but 
uphill  work  means  exertion.  Worshipers  in 
the  Russian  church  to-day  do  not  find  their 
devotional  exercises  any  lazy  lolling  about 
on  soft  pews.  Rather  may  it  be  regarded 
as  one  phase  of  muscular  Christianity. 

In  honor  of  this  Whitsuntide  festival,  the 
interior  of  this  vast  Cathedral  was  beauti- 
fully decorated  with  an  abundance  of  leafy 
branches  from  white  birch  and  poplar  trees 
and  with  bouquets  of  wild  flowers.  At  one 
counter  near  the  central  pillars  a  brisk  trade 
was  kept  up  in  candles,  large  and  small, 


TOMSK  209 

which  the  devotees,  after  purchasing,  carried 
to  other  priests  near  particular  shrines, 
where  they  were  lighted  and  with  others 
made  the  dim  religious  light  brighter.  On 
one  long  table  near  the  candle-stall  small 
rolls  of  bread  were  being  purchased.  One  in- 
cident showed  that  Siberian  notions  of 
etiquette  differed  from  ours,  for  a  gorgeously 
robed  priest  deliberately  took  out  a  comb 
and  with  it  adjusted  his  hair  in  the  presence 
of  all  the  congregation,  before  he  placed  a 
heavy  golden  crown  on  his  head  and  pro- 
ceeded with  the  prescribed  ceremony;  but 
this  public  performance  was  of  a  piece  with 
another  long-haired  priest,  whom  we  saw 
riding  in  a  drosky  with  his  wife  at  his  side 
and  her  bandbox  in  his  lap. 

The  exceeding  richness  and  profusion  of 
costly  icons  in  this  new  Cathedral  was  very 
noticeable — some  quite  quaint  in  design. 
One  had  a  realistic  representation  of  the  Son 
of  God  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father,  while  an- 
other exhibited  the  Holy  Ghost  by  a  fantastic 
combination  of  a  beatific  woman's  face  with 
the  wings  of  a  dove  at  each  side  but  minus 
a  body. 

Monday,  another  holiday — "The  Descent 
of  the  Holy  Ghost."  We  were  disappointed 
and  disgusted  to  find  on  going  out  that  all 
the  large  stores  and  public  buildings  were 
closed,  on  this  our  last  day  in  Tomsk,  since 
we  had  planned  to  make  a  few  more  pur- 


210  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

chases.  Under  the  circumstances  we  tried 
to  make  the  best  of  it  and  so  strolled  along 
the  streets  and  parks  sight-seeing  amid  the 
throng  of  festive,  happy-go-lucky  holiday- 
goers.  To  some  Siberians,  who  had  evidently 
imbibed  too  freely  of  their  favorite  vodka, 
we  gave  a  wide  berth.  Why  did  so  many  of 
the  populace  make  such  a  public  spectacle  of 
this  historic  spiritual  event  by  reversing  the 
scriptural  injunction  :  "Be  not  drunken  with 
wine,  wherein  is  riot,  but  be  filled  with  the 
Spirit"?  And  this  sorry  travesty  of  God's 
most  gracious  gift  on  the  very  day  set  apart 
to  commemorate  "The  Descent  of  the  Holy 
Ghost"! 


CHAPTER  XIV 

ACROSS  THE  STEPPES 

Some  of  the  Asiatic  steppes  are  grassy  plains. 
Others  are  covered  with  succulent,  evergreen, 
articulated  sodaplants.  Many  glisten  from  a  dis- 
tance with  flakes  of  exuded  salt,  which  cover  the 
clayey  soil,  not  unlike  in  appearance  to  freshly 
fallen  snow. — Humboldt. 

Onward  from  Tomsk 

Ox  Tuesday,  June  1,  long  after  daybreak, 
but  really  quite  early — for  the  correct  time 
by  the  clock  was  only  half-past  four — we 
arose,  packed  our  goods,  and  at  half-past  six 
o'clock  started  for  the  railway  station.  The 
morning  air  was  fresh  and  bracing.  After 
bounding  over  the  uneven  cobblestone  pave- 
ment of  the  city  we  enjoyed  all  the  more 
the  early  ride  back  again  over  the  smooth 
park  roads  leading  through  the  white  birch 
forests. 

We  might  have  continued  our  journey  by 
water  down  the  Tom  and  Obi  and  up  the 
Tobol  Rivers  to  Tobolsk,  as  had  been  sug- 
gested. Or,  if  we  had  been  so  inclined,  we 
could  have  made  an  excursion  by  steamboat 
to  Barnaul,  one  hundred  miles  south,  among 
the  foothills  of  the  Altai  range,  where  its 
population  of  30,000  inhabitants,  its  thriv- 
211 


212  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

ing  mining  industries,  and  its  choice  mu- 
nicipal museum  would  have  interested  us. 
This  mining  industry  was  established  there 
in  1738  by  Demidoff,  whose  enterprise  was 
recognized  and  rewarded  with  the  rank  of 
nobility  by  Peter  the  Great,  and  by  this  town 
with  his  statue  in  a  public  square.  Pro- 
ceeding fifty  miles  further  south  from  Bar- 
naul by  steamboat  up  the  Obi  toward  the 
Altai  mountains,  we  would  have  arrived  at 
the  busy,  picturesque  town  of  Biisk,  with 
its  18,000  inhabitants.  At  this  remote  town, 
if  we  should  chance  to  discover  that  our 
"fluid  assets"  had  run  short,  we  could  have 
them  replenished  at  the  Russo-China  Bank 
there.  We  decided,  however,  to  abide  by  our 
original  plan. 

The  poet,  whose  enraptured  soul  gave  vent 
to  the  strains,  "Backward,  turn  backward, 
O  time!"  might  have  felt  some  consolation 
to  find  that  each  day  one  hour  had  heeded 
his  passionate  appeal,  but  for  full  and  com- 
plete satisfaction  he  would  have  to  voyage 
over  the  Pacific  from  America  to  Asia. 
After  crossing  the  180°  meridian,  the  steam- 
ship captain  arbitrarily  drops  out  of  the 
calendar  one  entire  day.  The  voyager  re- 
tires, for  instance,  on  Monday  evening  and 
awakens  the  next  morning  to  find  it  Wednes- 
day. Nowhere  else  on  the  surface  of  this 
globe  of  ours  can  be  found  a  more  effectual 
way  of  killing  time. 


ACROSS  THE  STEPPES  213 

Immigrants 

The  railway  stations  were  of  the  same 
monotonous  type.  Occasionally  we  would 
watch  the  thirsty  immigrants,  holding  ket- 
tles, pitchers,  bottles,  and  cups  in  their 
hands,  standing  in  line  to  take  their  turn  to 
get  their  government  keep-o-tok.  Most  piti- 
able was  the  forlorn  appearance  of  many  of 
them,  stranded  at  the  various  stations  and 
huddled  together  on  the  platforms.  Among 
them  were  many  mothers  with  baby  and 
bundle  strapped  on  their  backs.  Some  were 
barefooted,  although  furs  were  worn  by  some 
of  our  fellow  passengers.  Many  men  and 
women  wore  coarse  sandals  braided  out  of 
rushes,  which  looked  as  cheap  and  crude  as 
the  straw-shoes  with  which  the  Japanese 
used  to  shoe  their  horses  before  and  long 
after  the  days  of  Commodore  Perry.  The 
pungent  odor  which  exuded  from  some  of 
these  immigrant  cars  was  easily  distin- 
guished from  that  "of  Araby  the  blest,"  and 
presented  a  strong  contrast  to  the  pure  ozone 
of  these  sunshiny  days,  for 

It  is  the  month  of  June, 
The  month  of  leaves  and  roses, 

When  pleasant  sights  salute  the  eyes 
And  pleasant  scents  the  noses. 

Passing  Sights 

Every  telegraph  pole  had  two  numbers 
painted  on  it.  One  indicated  the  individual 


214  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

number  of  the  pole  and  the  other  the  year  in 
which  it  had  been  erected.  Movable  fences 
for  the  purpose  of  warding  off  snow-drifts 
reminded  us  of  similar  appliances  over  the 
Rockies  and  Sierra  Nevadas  on  American 
transcontinental  railroads. 

After  leaving  Taiga  the  forest  gradually 
became  less  dense,  and  before  long  we 
emerged  upon  the  open  steppes  with  their 
broad,  seemingly  limitless  fields  of  wild 
grass  and  flowers.  Windmills  on  many  farm- 
steads added  a  quaint  Dutch  feature  to  the 
landscape. 

A  few  hours'  ride  west  from  Taiga  brought 
us  to  the  flourishing  town  of  Novo-Xiko- 
layevesk,  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Obi,  with 
its  25,000  inhabitants.  Lord  Ronaldshay, 
Major  Swayne,  and  other  British  sportsmen 
have  selected  this  place  as  their  favorite 
starting  point  in  their  pursuit  of  mountain 
sheep,  ibex,  wapiti,  and  other  large  game  on 
the  northern  slopes  of  the  Altai. 

Bridges  and  Rivers 

Our  train  crossed  the  Obi  River  on  a  rail- 
way bridge  2,640  feet  long.  These  railway 
bridges  over  the  Yenisei,  Obi,  Irtysh,  and 
other  Siberian  rivers  are  all  fine,  solid  struc- 
tures— veritable  triumphs  of  engineering 
skill.  In  our  schooldays  we  studied  the  out- 
landish names  of  these  Siberian  rivers.  Lit- 
tle did  we  then  dream  that  the  dav  would 


ACROSS  THE  STEPPES  215 

ever  dawn  when  we  would  be  comfortably 
gliding  over  them  on  such  magnificent 
bridges.  A  trip  to  the  moon  would  have 
seemed  just  as  probable.  At  the  time  Jules 
Verne  published  his  famous  romance, 
Around  the  World  in  Eighty  Days,  the  story 
was  generally  considered  as  preposterous 
as  a  tale  of  Baron  Munchausen.  Truth  is 
stranger  than  fiction.  To-day,  that  once 
popular  book  has  been  relegated  to  the  back 
shelves  of  the  libraries,  side  by  side  with 
tomes  on  ancient  history. 

Omsk 

Early  on  the  morning  of  June  2  our  train 
stopped  at  the  station  of  Omsk,  wrhich,  like 
other  Siberian  depots,  is  situated  miles  away 
from  the  city,  but  a  branch  line  of  railway 
or  a  drosky  affords  the  means  of  communi- 
cation. 

Omsk  is  a  city  of  considerable  importance, 
having  53,000  inhabitants  and  twenty-nine 
educational  establishments,  and  is  the  center 
of  a  growing  agricultural  district.  The  grain 
and  hay  are  gathered  chiefly  by  machines, 
bearing  the  names  of  Deering  and  McCor- 
mick  of  Chicago.  These  American  harvest- 
ing machines  are  great  favorites  with  Si- 
berian farmers,  on  account  of  their  lightness 
and  adaptability  compared  with  the  heavy, 
clumsy  articles  of  British  or  Russian  manu- 
facture. Recently  an  American  lady  has  do- 


216  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

nated  funds  with  which  to  erect  a  Baptist 
church  in  the  city. 

Along  the  sloping  banks  of  the  Irtysh, 
where  the  waters  of  the  Om  flow  into  it,  and 
not  far  from  the  steamboat  landing,  extends 
the  city  park.  Near  by,  on  the  banks  of  the 
Om,  is  the  Children's  Playground,  with  its 
summer  theater,  a  miniature  of  its  proto- 
type in  the  Parisian  Champs  Elyse'es.  As  in 
most  large  Siberian  cities,  so  here  is  a  fine 
museum,  with  choice  specimens  of  the  pre- 
historic period,  collected  from  the  surround- 
ing steppes,  curious  articles  of  indigenous 
domestic  industries,  and  a  rare  collection  of 
ornithology. 

Omsk  is  historically  noted  as  the  place  of 
banishment  for  the  celebrated  writer,  Dosto- 
yevsky,  whose  popular  work,  Buried  Alive, 
which  has  been  translated  into  many  lan- 
guages, reveals  some  aspects  of  the  execrable 
exile  system.  According  to  Koznovsky,  a 
fellow  prisoner,  Dostoyevsky  was  twice 
flogged  by  the  prison  authorities.  Once  he 
was  punished  for  having  complained,  on  be- 
half of  the  other  prisoners,  because  a  lump 
of  filth  was  found  in  their  soup.  The  second 
time  his  offense  was  that,  in  defiance  of  an 
officer's  command,  he  saved  a  fellow  prisoner 
from  drowning.  On  both  occasions  he  was 
brutally  beaten.  After  the  second  flogging, 
which  his  companions  regarded  as  fatal,  he 
was  removed  to  the  hospital.  Fortunately 


ACROSS  THE  STEPPES  217 

recovering,  he  was  ever  afterward  dubbed 
by  his  fellow-convicts  with  the  nickname 
"Deceased."1 

By  traveling  down  the  Irtysh  River,  the 
traveler  may  proceed  to  Tobolsk  and  further 
eastward  to  Tomsk.  Or,  if  possessed  with 
an  adventuresome  spirit  and  desirous  of 
seeing  some  of  Russia's  acquired  possessions 
in  Central  Asia,  he  could  journey  by  steamer 
south  685  miles  up  the  Irtysh  to  the  Oriental 
city  of  Semipalatinsk  and  thence  by  post- 
road  to  the  great  city  of  Tashkent  in  Tur- 
kestan, with  its  156,000  inhabitants,  which 
Russia  annexed  in  1865,  and  thence  by  rail 
via  Samarkand  with  its  mausoleum  of  Tam- 
erlane, thence  to  Bochara,  Merv,  and  the 
Caspian,  then  across  this  inland  sea  to  Baku, 
with  its  petroleum  industry,  and  so  on  to 
Europe.2  On  his  way  he  could  visit  Rus- 
sia's new  Asiatic  stronghold,  Vladikaukas, 
"Queen  of  Caucasia." 

Petropaulovsk 

A  six  hours'  ride  from  Omsk  brought  us 
to  the  city  of  Petropaulovsk,  named  in  honor 
of  two  great  apostles,  one  who  labored  chiefly 
among  the  Jews  and  the  other  among  the 
Gentiles.  A  third  of  its  21,500  inhabitants 
are  Mohammedans.  In  the  city,  two  miles 

1  Russia   and   the   Russians,   by   E.   Noble,    p.    220. 
*  Travel    and    Sport    In   Turkestan,    by    Captain    J.    N. 
Price   Wood. 


218  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

distant  from  the  railway,  is  a  noted  barter- 
market,  whose  slopes  open  on  an  interior 
court,  where  brisk  trading  is  carried  on, 
chiefly  in  cattle  and  hides.  Up  to  182G  this 
place  was  notorious  as  the  mart  where  Cos- 
sacks publicly  sold  their  captives. 

Kourgan 

The  next  important  stop  is  at  Kourgan, 
or  Kurgan,  another  six  hours'  run.  Kour- 
gan, situated  on  the  river  Tobol,  derives  its 
name  from  the  Tartar  "gur,"  "kyr,"  or  "kur," 
signifying  a  grave,  or  hill,  and  "khan,"  a 
house — literally  a  grave-house.1  Many  of 
these  tumuli,  or  hillocks,  dotting  the  plains 
have  been  found  to  contain  rare  collections 
of  archaeological  treasures,  which  now  en- 
rich the  museums  of  Saint  Petersburg  and 
other  cities. 

Butter  Business 

Kourgan  is  one  of  the  main  centers  in  the 
manufacture  of  Siberian  butter.  Many  do 
not  yet  realize  that  the  quantity  of  butter 
exported  from  Siberia  is  double  that  of 
wheat.  An  Englishman,  engaged  in  this  busi- 
ness, traveled  with  us  from  Omsk  to  his  home 
in  Kourgan,  where,  on  alighting,  he  was  af- 
fectionately greeted  by  his  wife  and  son. 
He  gave  us  interesting  particulars  about 
this  profitable  industry.  Just  before  the 

1  The   Russian  Empire,   by   Haxthausen. 


ACROSS  THE  STEPPES  219 

train  pulled  into  the  depot  at  Kourgan  he 
pointed  out  one  of  the  large  butter  establish- 
ments, in  which  he  was  interested.  Large 
letters  in  Russian,  German,  and  English  ad- 
vertised "The  Union  Cold  Storage  Co.,  Lon- 
don." He  stated  that  fourteen  English,  Ger- 
man, and  Danish  firms  were  at  Kourgan, 
about  twenty-one  at  Omsk,  and  others 
at  Barnaul  and  other  places  on  the  surround- 
ing steppes. 

This  business  of  butter-making  in  Siberia 
has  been  greatly  assisted  by  the  government. 
In  order  to  secure  efficiency  and  economy  in 
its  manufacture  and  excellence  in  the  pro- 
duct, a  professor  of  agriculture  is  appointed 
by  the  central  authorities  to  study  the  latest 
improvements  all  over  the  wTorld  in  the 
science  and  art  of  butter-making.  The  re- 
sults of  their  investigations  are  published 
in  pamphlet  form  and  distributed  to  trained 
men,  graduates  of  universities,  who  teach 
at  the  Siberian  Dairy  Schools,  established  at 
Kourgan,  Omsk,  Barnaul,  and  elsewhere. 
An  agronom,  or  professor  of  dairy  farming, 
has  the  oversight  of  each  dairy,  who  gives 
personal  attention  and  instruction  to  the 
peasants,  so  that  a  moujik  of  average  intel- 
ligence, after  three  months'  training,  is 
qualified  to  manage  a  dairy.  These  dairies 
belong  to  cooperative  associations  or  artels, 
so  popular  in  Russia,  who  hire  these  quali- 
fied dairymen  to  manufacture  butter  for 


220  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

them  on  modern  scientific  methods.  In  1903 
the  government  granted  substantial  subsidies 
to  assist  these  artels.  There  are  more  than 
two  hundred  and  fifty  artels,  and  their  num- 
ber is  constantly  increasing.  Government 
experts,  usually  from  the  Baltic  provinces, 
and  also  skilled  Danish  butter-makers,  who 
must  be  provided  with  government  diplomas, 
supplement  the  work  of  the  native  butter- 
makers,  by  systematic  visitations,  practical 
demonstrations,  and  correction  of  errors. 
Each  of  these  inspectors  has  oversight  of  ten 
creameries.  The  governmental  instructors 
also  teach  the  peasant  how  scientifically  to 
feed  cattle  on  fodder  during  the  winter,  some- 
what on  the  plan  of  American  silos,  so  that 
butter  is  produced  all  the  year  round. 

This  immense  butter-making  industry  had 
its  origin  in  the  dairy  of  an  English  wife  of 
a  Russian,  who  lived  in  the  Tiumen  district, 
and  whose  dairy  to-day  is  still  regarded  as 
a  model.  In  1896  hers  was  the  only  dairy  in 
all  Siberia. 

This  butter  business  has  assumed  so  great 
proportions  that  to  handle  the  traffic  the 
railway  has  ten  hundred  and  eighty  refrig- 
erator cars  of  fifteen  tons  each,  for  which 
the  railway  arranges  a  weekly  service  of 
seven  trains,  each  train,  if  necessary,  com- 
posed of  thirty-five  cars.  These  trains  of 
refrigerator  cars  are  easily  distinguished  by 
being  painted  white.  They  convey  the  butter 


ACROSS  THE  STEPPES  221 

to  Saint  Petersburg,  Kiga,  and  other  Baltic 
ports,  where  steamships  regularly  carry  the 
golden  product  to  England.  Sometimes  as 
many  as  one  thousand  tons  of  Siberian 
butter  have  been  delivered  in  London  within 
a  single  week. 

Russian  Eggs 

This  Englishman,  now  employed  in  the 
butter  business,  told  us  that  previously  he 
had  been  employed  in  the  poultry  business 
in  the  country  southeast  of  Moscow,  where 
he  shipped  eggs  by  the  wholesale  to  London. 
It  may  be  news  to  some  to  know  that  Great 
Britain  annually  buys  nearly  £1,000,000  or 
§5,000,000  worth  of  Kussian'eggs. 

After  the  usual  three  signals,  our  train 
pulled  out  of  the  station  of  Kourgan  and 
steadily  glided  over  the  level  steppes  west 
ward  toward  the  Urals,  passing  isbas,  wind 
mills,  and  telegraph  poles  in  quick  succes 
sion. 


CHAPTER  XV 

OVER  THE  URALS 

There  is  a  chain  of  mountains,  celebrated  for  a 
long  time,  but  better  known  in  our  day  by  its 
numerous  mines  and  smelters,  and  by  the  scien- 
tific explorers,  who  have  traversed  It  in  all  direc- 
tions. These  are  the  Ural  Mountains,  which  the 
people  living  there  revere  and  call  "the  Girdle 
of  the  Earth,"  and  which  Strahlenberg  rightly 
fixes  as  the  boundary  between  Europe  and  Asia. 
— P.  8.  Pallas,  Observations  sur  les  Formation  des 
Montagnes,  1777,  p.  10. 

Chelyabinsk 

At  Chelyabinsk,  an  important  junction  at 
the  foot  of  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Urals, 
the  Trans-Siberian  Railway  divides  into  two 
branches,  one  going  north  one  hundred  and 
fifty-four  miles  to  Ekaterinburg,  where  it 
crosses  the  Urals  and  proceeds  westward  via 
Perm,  direct  to  Saint  Petersburg.  The  other 
line  continues  due  west,  via  Slatoust,  Sa- 
mara, and  Tula,  near  Count  Tolstoy's  estates, 
to  Moscow.  At  present  two  trains  run 
weekly  to  Russia's  old  capital,  and  one  to 
the  new  one  on  the  Neva. 

At  this  junction  not  far  from  the  railway 

depot  stand  the  immense  modern  barracks 

for   the   accommodation    of   immigrants   en 

route  for  Siberia.    The  city  of  Chelyabinsk, 

222 


OVER  THE  URALS 

situated  nearly  three  miles  distant  from  the 
railway  on  the  banks  of  the  Mias,  contains 
some  27,000  inhabitants.  The  approach  by 
the  railway  westward  to  the  Urals,  like  that 
to  the  Rocky  Mountains  on  the  Union  Pacific, 
is  so  gradual  that  the  tourist  is  surprised 
when  he  learns  that  the  train  has  already 
arrived  at  the  summit  of  the  pass.  At  this 
high  point  a  triangular  pyramid  of  white 
marble  has  been  erected  on  the  dividing  line 
between  the  two  continents.  One  of  its 
three  sides  is  inscribed  "Asia,"  and  another 
"Europe."  This  is  the  celebrated  "Monu- 
ment of  Tears,"  noted  for  being  embraced  by 
thousands  of  weeping  exiles,  as  they  pay  sad 
farewell  to  Europe  before  plunging  into  un- 
known Siberia  with  its  terrors,  intensified 
by  incessant  horrible  rumors.  Their  hearts 
are  as  heavy  with  inconsolable  grief  as  were 
the  ancient  Israelites  who  in  their  eastern 
captivity,  sat  down  and  wept,  hanging  their 
harps  on  the  willows  in  a  strange  land. 

Scenery 

The  scenery,  where  the  railway  crosses  the 
Urals,  possesses  no  elements  of  grandeur  or 
sublimity  at  all  comparable  to  Switzerland 
or  the  Canadian  Rockies.  The  tourist  is, 
perhaps,  reminded  of  pleasant,  picturesque 
views  along  the  Pennsylvania  or  Chesapeake 
and  Ohio  Railroad  over  the  Alleghenies 
rather  than  that  of  the  Denver  and  Rio 


224  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

Grande  or  Canadian  Pacific  over  the  Rockies. 
As  our  train  wound  its  way  around  the  many 
mountain  curves  the  speed  was  slackened,  for 
there  was  danger  of  cave-ins  and  landslides 
from  recent  heavy  downpours.  In  some 
places  the  ground  looked  very  miry  and 
treacherous.  The  newly  shoveled-up  dirt 
showed  that  the  roadbed  had  just  been  re- 
paired from  washouts.  So  in  those  risky 
sections  our  train  crept  along  at  a  snail's 
pace,  passing  gangs  of  laborers  with  spades 
in  their  hands. 

Minerals 

This  Ural  region  is  noted  for  apparently 
inexhaustible  mineral  wealth.  Here  pre- 
cious gold  is  mined.  Ninety-five  per  cent  of 
the  world's  supply  of  platinum  is  produced 
here.  Its  greatest  riches,  however,  consist 
in  limitless  deposits  of  iron  ore,  providing 
four  fifths  of  the  pig  iron  used  in  Russia, 
not  to  mention  the  profusion  of  precious 
stones,  including  porphyry  and  jasper  of 
great  beauty  and  immense  slabs  of  malachite, 
which,  as  gigantic  pillars,  vases  and  table- 
slabs  enrich  the  palaces,  museums,  and  art 
galleries  of  Moscow  and  Saint  Petersburg. 
Out  of  this  Ural  treasure-house  are  taken 
twenty-five  per  cent  of  the  gold  obtained  in 
Russia,  besides  silver,  mercury,  copper, 
nickel,  zinc,  cobalt,  and  coal.  Rich  stores 
of  sapphire,  emerald,  beryl,  chrysoberyl,  tour- 


OVER  THE  URALS  225 

maline,  aquamarine,  topaz,  amethyst,  rock- 
crystal,  garnet,  jade,  marble,  diamond,  as- 
bestos, and  pyrites  are  found  imbedded  in 
the  solid  sides  of  this  same  rugged  range  of 
mountains.1 

Demidoff,  the  Miner 

Peter  the  Great  and  his  imperial  succes- 
sors perceived  the  necessary  part  which  these 
valuable  minerals  play  in  providing  not  only 
for  "the  sinews  of  war"  but  also  for  public 
expenditures  in  time  of  peace.  So  they  have 
wisely  striven  to  encourage  these  mining 
enterprises.  History  records  how  the  first 
iron  smelter  was  established  in  1623,  and 
that  a  very  industrious  miner  named  Demi- 
doff  had  a  small  iron  mine  on  the  confines  of 
Siberia.  Peter  the  Great  on  visiting  the 
spot  was  so  pleased  with  the  industry  and 
reputation  of  this  miner,  and  so  eager  to 
encourage  mining,  that  he  made  Demidoff 
and  his  heirs  in  perpetuity,  a  present  of 
an  extensive  district,  surrounding  his  small 
patrimonial  mine.  This  enormous  grant  of 
ground  turned  out  to  be  a  source  of  inex- 
haustible wealth.  It  was  found  to  cover 
some  of  the  richest  veins  and  finest  quality 
of  iron  ore  in  Kussia.  The  output  soon  en- 
riched its  industrious  proprietor.  His  son 
continued  to  work  the  mine  and  to  explore 

1  Oriental  and  Western  Siberia,  by  A.  B.  Granville 
and  Atkinson,  p.  81. 


226  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

more  ground,  and  invested  the  capital  thus 
acquired  in  purchasing  additional  estates. 
Among  these  was  one  in  which  soon  after  a 
gold  mine  was  discovered  that  has  yielded 
on  an  average  100,679  pounds  in  pure  gold 
annually.  When  Peter  the  Great  learned 
how  valuable  a  subject  he  had  rewarded  in 
old  Demidoff  he  wished  to  see  him  classed  in 
the  rank  of  nobles.  After  some  hesitation 
the  old  man  agreed  to  accept  his  sovereign's 
further  bounty.  When  he  was  asked,  what 
his  coat-of-arms  would  be,  he  replied,  "A 
miner's  hammer,  for  I  want  my  posterity 
never  to  forget  the  source  of  their  wealth 
and  prosperity."  At  present  the  Demidoff 
estates  comprise  3,095,700  acres.1 

Souvenirs 

At  the  various  stations  in  the  Ural  Moun- 
tains, booths  for  the  sale  of  trinkets,  which 
are  manufactured  out  of  precious  stones  or 
of  iron,  attracted  the  attention  and  the 
money  of  passengers.  Paper  knives  of  figured 
ironwork,  paper  weights,  and  other  fancy 
iron  souvenirs  are  for  sale  at  Slatoust,  where 
is  located  an  important  government  armory. 
This  city  is  one  of  the  most  picturesque  spots 
along  the  line  of  the  railway  through  the 
Urals.  Here  the  rushing  Ai  makes  a  grand 
curve,  as  it  impetuously  forces  its  triumphal 

1  Oriental  and  Western  Siberia,  by  A.  B.  Granville  and 
Atkinson,  p.  81. 


OVER  THE  URALS  227 

way  onward  through  enfilading  mountains. 
"Sta-to-ust"  is  Russian  for  "Chrysostom,"  or 
"the  golden  mouth,"  to  whose  honor  Mosoloff, 
a  Moscow  merchant,  the  founder  of  the  town, 
erected  a  church  in  1754. * 

At  these  stations  among  the  mountains  we 
bought  a  few  souvenirs,  such  as  a  handsome 
alexandrite  bracelet,  a  chain  of  brilliant 
aventurine  beads,  and  a.  pretty  whitish  moon- 
stone brooch  in  the  shape  of  a  butterfly.  The 
settings  of  these  souvenir-gems  were  of  very 
inferior  workmanship,  so  that  after  com- 
paratively little  use,  all  of  this  Ural  jewelry 
fell  to  pieces.  Especially  handsome  were 
the  alexandrite  stones. 

Freshly  picked  bunches  of  beautiful  wild 
flowers  were  also  offered  for  sale  by  peasant 
boys  and  girls,  at  the  way  stations.  We 
longed  to  have  the  train  stop  long  enough 
just  outside  these  towns,  that  we  might 
jump  out  on  the  wild  prairie  and  gather  a 
few  handfuls  of  forget-me-nots,  lilies  of  the 
valley,  purple  lilacs,  and  other  beauties, 
which  "were  so  near,  and  yet  so  far,"  for,  in 
a  most  tantalizing  manner,  our  train  stolidly 
and  steadily  whirled  by  toward  the  setting 
sun,  utterly  oblivious  of  these  floral  beauties 
and  confirming  the  poet's  true  insight,  that 

Full  many  a  flower  is  born  to  blush  unseen, 
And  waste  its  sweetness  on  the  desert  air. 


1  Greater  Russia,  by  William  Oliver  Greener,  p.  74. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

THE  VOLGA 

The  whole  history  of  Russia  is  the  history  of 
Its  three  great  rivers,  and  is  divided  into  three 
periods:  that  of  the  Dnieper  with  Kiev;  that  of 
the  Volga  with  Moscow;  that  of  the  Neva  with 
Novgorod,  in  the  eighth  century,  and  Saint  Peters- 
burg in  the  eighteenth.  The  Dnieper  made  Russia 
Byzantine,  the  Volga  Asiatic.  It  was  for  the  Neva 
to  make  it  European. — Rambaud,  History  of  Rus- 
sia, vol.  i,  pp.  27,  28. 

Samara 

Our  train  halted  at  the  busy  city  of  Sa- 
mara, a  little  this  side  of  the  great  Alexan- 
der Bridge  over  the  Volga.  This  fine  speci- 
men of  a  railway  bridge  has  fourteen  sections 
of  360  feet  span  each,  and  is  built  so  high 
that  at  low  water  it  is  135  feet  above  the 
river.  In  its  structure  nearly  7,000  tons  of 
iron  were  used,  and  it  was  constructed  en- 
tirely by  Russian  engineers. 

Division  of  Night  and  Day 

Since  it  was  broad  daylight  at  4 :30  A.  M. 
when  we  alighted  from  the  train,  we  jumped 
into  a  drosky  and,  as  usual,  placed  our  pos- 
sessions in  another,  and  without  delay 
started  for  a  popular  kumiss  sanitarium, 
charmingly  situated  on  high  bluffs,  overlook- 
228 


THE  VOLGA  229 

ing  the  Volga,  nearly  two  miles  distant. 
Our  guidebook  stated,  "The  best  time  to  visit 
the  watering  place  is  spring  and  early  sum- 
mer," so  we  concluded,  as  it  was  June  4,  we 
had  arrived  just  in  the  nick  of  time.  We  had 
pictured  to  ourselves  the  novel  experiences 
we  would  have  at  a  Kussian  spa,  which  we 
might  compare  with  other  fashionable  water- 
ing places,  as  Wiesbaden,  Leamington,  or 
Saratoga,  and  where  we  could  mingle  with 
the  crowds  of  visitors  and  observe^how  they 
quaffed  this  quaint  drink,  kumiss,  manu- 
factured here  out  of  mare's  milk.  The  guide- 
book said  that  the  custom  is  to  begin  by 
drinking  daily  one  or  two  bottles  and  gradu- 
ally increase  the  quantity  until  five  bottles 
are  drunk  daily.  But 

The  best  laid  schemes  o'  mice  and  men 
Gang  aft  a-gley. 

The  heavy  rains,  which  caused  the  wash- 
outs in  the  Urals,  had  evidently  dispersed 
their  moisture  over  and  into  this  famous 
"black  earth"  district.  Jersey  mud  and 
Xishnibotany  clay  are  nothing  compared  to 
the  sticky,  oozy  black  mire  through  which 
our  horses  tugged  and  wallowed.  Providen- 
tially without  any  very  serious  mishap,  we 
arrived  at  the  sanitarium,  only  to  find  that 
it  had  not  been  yet  opened  for  the  season! 
Weary  from  travel  and  hungry  as  bears  from 
our  early  ride  in  the  cool  morning  air,  there 


230  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

was  nothing  to  do  but  to  retrace  our  steps 
and  find  a  hotel  at  Samara.  Still  while  the 
horses  had  a  few  minutes  to  catch  their 
breath,  we  strolled  along  winding  paths, 
amid  shrubs  and  vines  dripping  from  the 
heavy  rains,  through  the  artistically  laid-out 
grounds,  coming  occasionally  upon  pretty 
rest-houses,  from  which  could  be  obtained  ex- 
tensive vistas  of  the  broad  sweep  of  the  Volga 
valley  and  the  mighty  river  flowing  at  our 
feet.  Then  our  jaded  beasts  tugged  away 
through  the  mire  back  to  the  city. 

When  we  came  to  settle  with  our  drosky 
drivers  at  Samara,  we  paid  them,  as  we  sup- 
posed, according  to  the  regular  printed  tariff. 
To  our  surprise,  they  indignantly  refused  to 
accept  this  fare,  and  showed  us  the  tariff- 
card  on  which  was  distinctly  printed,  that 
night  rates  prevailed  for  twelve  o'clock  mid- 
night, until  7  A.  M.,  during  which  time  the 
charges  were  double  those  of  the  daytime — 
daytime  being  counted  from  7  A.  M.  until 
midnight.  It  did  indeed  seem  passing 
strange  that,  riding,  as  we  did,  in  broad  day- 
light, the  time  should  be  reckoned  as  night- 
time. But  such  was  the  case,  not  only  in 
Samara  but  also  in  Saint  Petersburg.  There 
the  daytime  officially  begins  at  7  A.  M.  and 
lasts  until  12:30  A.  M.  If  in  the  realm  of 
nature  the  darkness  of  midnight  is  officially 
and  arbitrarily  reckoned  as  daylight,  is  it 
any  wonder  that  in  Russian  politics,  dark- 


THE  VOLGA  231 

ness  and  light,  right  and  wrong,  are  so  hope- 
lessly confused? 

Scythians 

This  city  of  Samara,  with  its  92,000  in- 
habitants, is  situated  in  the  celebrated  "black 
land,"  which  feeds  25,000,000  people  and  is 
the  center  of  an  immense  grain  trade.  It 
was  in  this  fertile  district  that  Herodotus 
placed  the  Scythians,  and,  strange  to  say, 
refers  to  their  drinking  mare's  milk  even  in 
his  day,  centuries  before  the  Christian  era. 
Homer's  Cimmerian  darkness  in  the  Odyssey 
refers  to  the  long,  dark,  wintry  nights  of 
this  hyperborean  region,  where 

The  dusky  nation  of  Cimmeria  dwells, 
The  sun  ne'er  views  th'  unfathomable  seats 
When  radiant,  he  advances  or  retreats.1 

Among  the  many  precious  trophies  in  the 
Hermitage  at  Saint  Petersburg  are  two  rare 
vases,  the  Silver  Vase  of  Nikopol  and  the 
Golden  Vase  of  Kertch,  dating  from  the 
fourth  century  before  Christ,  or  about  the 
time  Herodotus  wrote  his  history.  The  un- 
known artists  depict  upon  these  vases 
Scythian  horsemen  of  the  same  racial  fea- 
tures as  their  descendants  lassoing  and  tam- 
ing horses  precisely  as  is  done  on  those  same 
plains  to-day. 


1  Odyssey,  Bk.  XI. 


232  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

The  City 

Samara  on  the  Volga,  though  situated 
farther  east  than  Bagdad,  Mecca,  and  Zanzi- 
bar, is  in  close  touch  by  rail  and  water  with 
European  civilization,  as  its  various  indus- 
tries, fine  stores,  and  public  buildings  testify. 
We  spent  the  day  in  this  busy  commercial 
city  in  sight-seeing  and  making  purchases. 
In  the  early  evening  we  rode  to  the  wharf  so 
as  to  be  in  time  to  catch  the  steamboat  for 
Nijni-Novgorod,  scheduled  to  arrive  at  7:30 
p.  M.  Like  steamers  on  the  Mississippi  and 
other  rivers,  punctuality  was  not  always  ob- 
served. However,  three  hours  behind  time, 
the  steamer  with  its  load  of  passengers  was 
moored  alongside  the  wharf.  Many  of  them 
were  from  "Little  Russia,"  whose  Mongolian 
features  are  so  pronounced  that  it  is  not 
necessary  to  scratch  a  native,  as  the  map  of 
Russia  is  printed  on  his  face. 

We  boarded  this  steamer,  which  on  its  way 
to  Samara  had  stopped  at  Saratoff,  the  site 
of  ancient  Sarai,  where  the  Tartars  once  had 
their  headquarters,  referred  to  in  Chaucer's 
lines, 

At  Sara  in  the  land  of  Tartare 

There  dwelled  a  king,  who  werryed  Russie. 

Shortly  after  we  had  ensconced  ourselves  in 
our  comfortable,  clean  staterooms  she  started 
up  stream  with  her  cargo  of  freight  and  pas- 
sengers. 


THE  VOLGA  233 


River  Travel 


Every  river  possesses  a  peculiar  charm  of 
its  own.  The  Volga  was  no  exception.  The 
broad  decks  and  capacious  cabins  of  a  river 
steamer,  especially  after  a  long  ride  in  the 
cramped  quarters  of  a  railway  car,  offer  a 
cordial  welcome  to  the  tired,  dust-begrimed 
traveler.  The  fresh  air,  the  broad  views  on 
every  side,  the  sense  of  freedom  in  promenad- 
ing the  deck  or  loitering  on  shore  at  landing 
places  all  combine  to  render  river  travel  a 
most  refreshing  change. 

The  commodious  Yangtse  steamers  plying 
between  Shanghai  and  Hankow  at  times  run 
close  to  the  green-tilled  fields,  where  Chinese 
urchins  are  riding  astride  of  water-buffaloes 
and  industrious  coolies  are  tilling  the  soil  or 
carrying  produce  in  baskets  suspended  from 
bamboo  poles.  Now  the  steamer  glides  near 
ancient  walled  cities  guarded  by  lofty  gate 
towers,  and  anon,  it  is  steaming  by  the  side 
of  Golden,  Silver  and  Little  Orphan  Islands, 
where  art,  with  her  temples,  shrines,  and  pa- 
godas, vies  with  nature  with  her  trees,  crags, 
and  shrubbery.  This  kaleidoscopic  pano- 
rama of  Oriental  landscape  and  life  presents 
an  ever-varied  entertainment  to  the  traveler 
on  his  voyage  up  China's  mightiest  stream. 

A  day's  trip  down  the  picturesque  minia- 
ture river,  the  Tonegawa,  in  Japan,  affords 
a  most  idyllic  refreshing  route  to  Tokyo  after 


234  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

the  fatiguing  jinricksha,  basha,  or  railway 
ride  to  Nikko. 

The  charm  of  a  Nile  voyage  is  as  delight- 
ful when  enjoyed  to-day  as  it  was  to  the 
ancient  lotos  eaters,  and  forever  lingers  in 
one's  memory  as  a  dream.  The  intoxicating 
atmosphere,  the  clarity  of  the  desert  air,  the 
lazy  dahebiahs,  the  Bedouin  life  on  river  and 
shore,  the  mammoth  temple-ruins  on  the 
river-banks  all  unite  in  producing  an  over- 
whelming and  indelible  impression.  No  won- 
der the  hustling  Yankee  loves  to  bask  there. 

World-renowned  is  the  Rhine  with  its  en- 
chantment of  castle  and  legend.  The  Hud- 
son, with  its  unsightly  ice  houses  above  West 
Point  and  its  famous  Palisades  near  New 
York,  is  the  favorite  of  Americans.  The 
grand  Columbia  is  the  pride  of  the  North- 
west, where  big  salmon  leap  high  out  of  the 
water  and  splash  back  again  as  the  steam- 
ship glides  near  the  base  of  titanic  cliffs  over 
half  a  mile  high,  whose  frowning  brows  are 
crowned  with  castellated  Ehrenbreitsteins. 
The  majestic  Saint  Lawrence  laves  the  lovely 
tree-clad  shores  of  the  Thousand  Islands. 
Further  oceanward  in  its  mad  course  the 
surging  stream  plunges  through  the  Sault 
and  other  rapids,  tumultuously  tossing  the 
great  steamer,  so  that  she  quivers  from  stem 
to  stern,  as  though  struck  by  a  sudden  gale 
in  mid-Atlantic.  The  mighty  Mississippi,  the 
"Father  of  Waters,"  as  the  superstitious  In- 


THE  VOLGA  235 

dians  termed  him,  is  often  compared  to  the 
revered  "Mother  Volga"  of  the  Russians. 

So  life  on  the  Volga  has  its  own  peculiar 
charm.  The  steamers  are  both  large  and 
comfortable,  like  those  on  the  Mississippi,  and 
are  even  called  American.  The  staterooms 
are  good-sized  and  clean  with  the  ubiquitous 
icon,  though  of  diminutive  size,  perched,  not 
like  Poe's  raven  on  the  door-lintel,  but  high 
up  in  its  conventional  corner  opposite  the 
entrance.  The  sheets,  pillowcases,  and  bed- 
ding are  charged  extra.  The  service  is  ex- 
cellent. The  cuisine  is  more  Slavonic  than 
French,  yet  the  traveler  by  judicious  selec- 
tion from  the  elaborate  menu,  will  find  the 
food  quite  satisfactory. 

Kazan 

Early  on  the  morrow  our  steamer  stopped 
at  the  old  Tartar  city,  Kazan,  long  the 
stronghold  of  the  Golden  Horde  Mohamme- 
dans in  their  rule  over  Muscovy,  and  from 
which  they  made  their  inroads  into  Europe. 
Its  name,  Kazan,  is  derived  from  the  Tartar 
word  meaning  "golden  kettle,"  commemorat- 
ing the  incident  of  a  slave  of  the  first  Khan, 
who  accidentally  dropped  a  golden  kettle 
in  the  tributary,  Kazanka,  which  debouches 
here  into  the  Volga.  The  city  was  founded 
by  Batu  Khan,  grandson  of  Genghis  Khan. 
In  its  stubborn  resistance  to  the  attacks  of 
Ivan  the  Terrible,  its  streets  flowed  with  the 


236  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

commingled  blood  of  Moslem  and  Giaour. 
The  expulsion  of  the  Mohammedans  from 
Kazan  bears  the  same  historic  importance 
to  the  Russian  as  the  expulsion  of  the  Moors 
from  Granada  does  to  the  Spaniard.  The 
siege  of  Kazan  was  long  drawn  out;  Ger- 
man engineers  were  employed  to  spring 
mines  under  the  city  walls,  and  a  miracu- 
lous cross  was  brought  from  the  Cathedral 
of  Moscow  to  bring  victory  to  their  arms. 
Soon  a  breach  in  the  walls  was  made,  the 
Russian  forces  entered  and  slaughtered  their 
infidel  foes.  So  horrible  were  the  gruesome 
piles  of  the  massacred  that  even  Ivan  the 
Terrible,  like  Scipio  before  Carthage,  was 
moved  to  tears,  exclaiming,  "They  are  not 
Christians,  but  yet  they  are  men."  Perhaps 
the  career  of  this  Muscovite  ruler  would  be 
judged  with  greater  leniency  if  we  bore  in 
mind  that  he  lived  at  the  time  of  the  In- 
quisition. 

A  polite  Norwegian  commercial  traveler 
called  our  attention  to  some  men  climbing 
up  the  staircase  to  the  upper  deck  of  our 
steamer.  They  were  Mohammedans.  To- 
ward sunset  they  mounted  aloft,  where  each 
spread  out  a  rug  upon  which  they  kneeled 
and  prostrated  themselves,  knocking  their 
foreheads  on  the  deck  in  their  prayers  to 
Allah,  as  they  endeavored  to  face  toward 
Mecca,  notwithstanding  the  ever-swerving 
course  of  our  steamer. 


THE  VOLGA  237 

Tolstoy 

In  its  celebrated  university,  Tolstoy,  the 
novelist,  was  once  enrolled  as  a  student. 
The  horoscope  foretelling  the  fickleness  of 
his  nature  was  even  then  indicated  by  his 
student  life.  He  matriculated  in  mathe- 
matics, then  studied  successively  law,  medi- 
cine, and  Oriental  languages,  and  finally  left 
the  university  without  obtaining  a  degree. 
His  future  career  has  been  well  summarized 
as  "a  man  who  preaches  celibacy,  and  is  the 
father  of  thirteen  children ;  who  denounces 
war,  and  fought  at  Sebastopol ;  who  preaches 
purity  of  life  and  confesses  that  he  has  com- 
mitted practically  every  crime  known  to 
man ;  who  is  an  aristocrat  of  aristocrats,  and 
yet  makes  his  own  fire  and  dresses  like  a 
peasant ;  who  writes  romances  that  the  world 
calls  masterpieces,  and  denounces  these 
novels  as  folly;  who  finds  the  inspiration  of 
his  life  in  the  gospel  of  Christ,  yet  mutilates 
the  Bible  according  to  his  own  subjective 
fancies,  denies  the  divinity  of  Jesus,  does  not 
believe  in  immortality,  and  scorns  the  or- 
ganized church  and  its  ordinances.  Count 
Tolstoy  is  a  living  paradox."1 

On  Shore  and  Stream 

At  various  landing  places  peasants  stood 
in  double  rows,  between  whom  passengers 

1  The  Zion's  Herald,  by  Professor  J.  R.  Taylor,  August 

la,    1908. 


238  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

came  and  went.  There  they  displayed  their 
wares  for  sale,  such  as  rye  bread,  red  rad- 
ishes, kettles  of  hot  boiled  chicken,  and  pigs' 
heads,  eggs,  milk,  and  other  produce  along 
with  flowers,  chiefly  lilies  of  the  valley. 

High  up  on  the  hills  away  from  the  river 
we  passed  numbers  of  windmills,  sometimes 
as  many  as  five  or  six  clustered  together. 

Strange  objects  were  occasionally  passed 
floating  downstream.  Immense  rafts  or 
timber  boats,  built  of  thousands  of  large  logs, 
tier  on  tier,  into  the  shape  of  a  bulky  vessel 
like  Noah's  ark,  were  drifting  down  toward 
the  Caspian.  Sometimes  two  of  these  were 
fastened  together  below  and  connected  above 
by  bridges,  capped  with  houses  like  conning 
towers  for  the  lumbermen.  Then  again  we 
passed  by  numerous  other  river  craft,  includ- 
ing peculiar  oil  boats  with  decks  awash, 
carrying  the  crude  oil  of  the  Caucasus. 

On  the  morning  of  June  7  the  heights  of 
the  world-renowned  annual  fair  town  ap- 
peared in  the  distance.  Like  the  Alcazars, 
or  fortified  palaces  of  Seville,  Toledo,  and 
other  Spanish  cities,  the  Kremlins  or  lofty 
citadel-palaces  of  Kazan,  Nijnf-Novgorod, 
Moscow,  and  other  Russian  cities  are  always 
prominent  and  interesting  places  to  view 
and  visit.  Modern  trolley  cars  and  antique 
edifices  unite  the  old  with  the  new  in  this 
busy  city.  The  widely  extended  mud-flat, 
covered  by  the  many  buildings  of  these  Fair 


THE  VOLGA  239 

Grounds,  was  inaccessible  save  by  boat,  for 
the  bridge  across  the  Oka  was  being  repaired. 
A  month  later  all  would  be  bustle  and  confu- 
sion at  the  great  Fair  of  Nijni-Novgorod. 

Limit  of  Fame 

The  Volga  loomed  up  before  the  ecstatic 
vision  of  the  tea-guzzling  scholar,  Samuel 
Johnson,  as  the  far-off  limit  of  fame.  Boswell 
records  how  one  evening  at  the  Essex  Head 
Club  in  London,  Johnson  startled  the  com- 
pany by  exclaiming :  "O !  Gentlemen !  I  must 
tell  you  a  great  thing.  The  empress  of 
Russia  [Catherine  II]  has  ordered  The  Ram- 
bler  to  be  translated  into  the  Russian  lan- 
guage, so  I  should  be  read  on  the  banks  of 
the  Volga.  Horace  boasts  that  his  fame 
would  extend  to  the  Rhone.  Now  the  Volga 
is  farther  from  me  than  the  Rhone  from 
Horace."1  Facts  are  stubborn  things,  and 
truth  is  sometimes  unpalatable.  But,  as  we 
scanned  both  banks  of  this  broad  stream,  we 
could  detect  no  signs  whatever  of  any  na- 
tives or  foreigners,  singly  or  in  groups,  en- 
gaged in  perusing  the  pages  of  The  Rambler, 
or  any  other  book.  Perchance  the  river- 
banks  were  still  too  damp  and  chilly,  since 
every  now  and  then  patches  of  winter  snow 
were  still  visible,  hidden  from  the  sun  in 
shady  nooks  and  ravines  by  the  river  sides. 
Whether  during  the  long-drawn-out  sultry 

1  Boswell'a  Life  of  Johnson,   1847  edition,   p.  755. 


240  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

days  of  July  and  August  lovers  of  literature 
idly  recline  upon  the  grassy  banks  of  the 
Volga,  as  is  the  vogue  on  summer  afternoons 
by  the  Cherwell  and  Isis  at  Oxford,  our  ex- 
perience on  the  Volga  furnishes  no  proof. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

THROUGH  RUSSIA 

The  people,  the  Russian  people, 

God  grant  their  night  is  past, 
And  the  gloom  of  their  weary  waiting 

Lost  in  the  dawn  at  last! 
From  the  Baltic  to  the  Okhotsk  Sea 

The  stars  have  heard  their  wail, 
And  the  steppe-winds  borne  their  prayers  to  heaven 

That  Right  may  yet  prevail. 

The  people,  the  patient  people, 

They  are  the  strength,  the  power — 
Their  hearts  are  true  to  the  Russian  Land 

Though  darkest  clouds  may  lower. 
It  was  Yermak,  the  valiant  Cossack, 

Who  broad  Siberia  won; 
Through  Minin,  peasant  of  Nijni, 

Were  the  tyrant  Poles  undone; 

And  Archangels'  Lomonosoff, 

Child  of  the  common  throng, 
A  fisher  lad,  was  first  to  shape 

The  sounding  Russ  in  song. 
The  people,  the  trusting  people, 

God  grant  their  night  Is  past, 
And  the  gloom  of  their  weary  waiting 

Lost  in  the  dawn  at  last. 

— Edna  Dean  Proctor. 

Ride  to  Moscow 

Xuxi-XovGOROD   rivals   Naples    and    New 
York  in  the  rapacity  and  extortion  practiced 
on  strangers  passing  within  or  without  their 
241 


242  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

gates.  A  midnight  buffet-sleeper  train  of 
antiquated  "Wagons  Lits"  cars  whirled  us 
across  the  level  country  to  the  fascinating 
old  capital,  Moscow. 

Moscow 

What  especially  interested  us  in  this 
strikingly  composite  Muscovite  capital  was 
the  Kitai  Gorod,  or  "Chinese  City,"  sur- 
rounded by  its  city  wall.  This  so-called  Chi- 
nese Wall  is  as  much  of  a  caricature  of  the 
walls  of  Peking,  Nankin,  or  other  Chinese 
cities,  as  the  vile  decoctions  called  American 
ice-cream  soda  in  European  cities  are  of  the 
genuine  article  sold  in  New  York,  Chicago, 
or  other  American  cities. 

The  Redeemer's  Gate 

The  Kremlin  is  the  heart  of  Moscow,  as 
Moscow  is  the  heart  of  Russia.  How  highly 
the  Kremlin  is  honored  is  well  expressed  in 
Viazemski's  lines: 

The  Kremlin  is  our  Sanctuary  and  our  Fortress; 
The  source  of  our  strength  and  the  treasury  of  our 
faith. 

The  most  popular  gateway  into  its  historic 
precincts  is  through  the  Redeemer's  Gate. 
This  remarkable  gateway  was  built  by  skilled 
workmen  from  other  lands.  English  archi- 
tects crowned  it  with  the  beautiful  Gothic 
towers,  but  the  massive  gateway  itself  is  the 
product  of  Italian  workmanship,  as  similarly 


THROUGH  RUSSIA  243 

in  India  Italian  artists  wrought  at  Delhi, 
Agra,  and  elsewhere  those  wonderful  crea- 
tions of  palace,  tomb,  and  mosque.  During 
the  past  few  years  a  Florentine  mosaic  expert 
has  been  employed  by  Lord  Curzon  to  restore 
the  beauty  of  the  famous  palace  at  Delhi. 
The  Redeemer's  Gate  was  built  by  a  Milan- 
ese artisan,  just  one  year  before  Columbus 
discovered  America. 

Over  the  entrance  to  the  Gate  is  the  mir- 
aculous icon  of  the  Redeemer,  to  which 
reverence  is  paid  by  all,  Tsar,  peasant,  citi- 
zen, and  stranger  alike.  "Hats  off!"  is  the 
rule  on  passing  through  the  Redeemer's  Gate, 
as  in  entering  Grant's  Tomb  in  New  York. 
Occasionally  a  person,  forgetful  or  disre- 
spectful, fails  to  doff  his  hat.  Instantly  a 
guard  approaches  to  remind  him  of  the  cus- 
tomary etiquette.  Every  man  will  show  his 
real  breeding  whether  at  home  or  abroad.  In 
1879  a  party  of  American  and  British  tour- 
ists visiting  Constantinople  were  disgusted 
at  the  boorish  insolence  of  a  Russian  officer. 
It  was  Friday,  when  the  Sultan  was  in  the 
habit  of  riding  from  his  palace  to  worship 
in  a  mosque  nearby.  As  his  Majesty  passed 
in  his  imperial  carriage,  every  one,  native 
and  foreign,  politely  saluted  him,  except  this 
tall  handsome  Russian.  Alone  he  stood  bolt 
upright  in  his  hired  barouche,  insultingly 
displaying  Russian  bearishness  against  the 
sovereign  of  Turkey — a  piece  of  brazen  im- 


STRANGE  SIBERIA 

pertinence  equaling  that  of  Count  Robert  of 
Paris  in  that  same  Byzantian  capital.  It 
will  be  remembered  that  the  Emperor  Alex- 
ins,  in  order  to  insure  respectful  obeisance 
from  the  bold  but  often  rude  Crusaders,  had 
the  door  into  the  imperial  reception  room  of 
his  palace  made  so  low  that  each  guest  on 
entering  was  compelled  to  bow  down  before 
the  emperor,  seated  on  his  throne  directly 
opposite.  Count  Robert  of  Paris,  discovering 
this,  simply  turned  around  and  backed  in, 
to  the  dismay  of  all  present. 

French  Revolution 

If,  as  some  predict,  the  French  Revolution 
is  to  be  reenacted  in  Russia,  the  Gallery  of 
the  Rumyanzev  Museum  will  play  a  subtle 
but  powerful  part.  On  its  walls  hangs  a 
large  oil  painting,  depicting  a  terribly 
shocking  tragedy  from  the  French  Revolu- 
tion. A  countess  of  genteel,  cultured  mien 
and  dressed  in  fashionable  costume  had  been 
horribly  maltreated  and  murdered.  Her  dis- 
figured  corpse,  with  her  costly  robes  sadly 
torn  and  stained  with  blood,  had  been  left 
like  a  dead  dog  on  the  highway.  The  mob 
of  infuriated  peasants,  armed  with  impro- 
vised weapons,  who  had  perpetrated  this 
deed  of  villainy,  were  retiring  to  a  village  in 
the  distance,  while  high  up  on  a  frowning 
cliff  in  the  forest  stood  the  sacked  castle,  a 
victim  to  the  devouring  flames. 


THROUGH  RUSSIA  245 

What's  in  a  Name  ? 

Some  years  ago  a  number  of  benevolent 
Russians,  imitating  the  Christian  activities 
in  the  congested  quarters  of  English  and 
American  cities,  started  similar  work  in  the 
slums  of  Moscow,  designating  their  work  by 
the  English  word,  "Settlement."  To  the 
Russian  civil  authorities  this  foreign  term 
was  obnoxious,  so  they  stopped  this  enter- 
prise for  one  year.  Last  year  exactly  the 
same  altruistic  activities  were  renewed  with- 
out any  interference  on  the  part  of  the  gov- 
ernment, since  it  had  been  rechristened  and 
was  now  called  "Children's  Work  and  Play." 

Sparrow  Hill 

A  drive  outside  the  city  to  the  heights  of 
Sparrow  Hill  brought  us  to  the  historic  spot 
where  Napoleon  first  beheld  Moscow,  and 
afforded  us  a  magnificent  outlook  over  the 
ancient  capital,  unrolled  as  a  map  at  our 
feet.  When  Mohammed  from  the  heights  of 
Lebanon  first  gazed  upon  Damascus,  gleam- 
ing in  all  its  loveliness  like  an  emerald  in 
the  desert,  he  was  so  entranced  with  its 
beauty  that  he  gave  orders  that  the  city  be 
spared  from  sack  and  slaughter.  One  of 
the  most  touching  episodes  in  the  life  of  our 
Saviour  occurred  when  he  was  making  his 
triumphal  entry  into  Jerusalem.  He  was 
rounding  the  southern  shoulder  of  Olivet  for 
the  last  time,  when  suddenly  the  glorious 


246  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

temple,  the  city  walls  and  gates,  with  the 
mass  of  other  buildings,  burst  in  all  their 
splendor  upon  his  vision.  Utterly  overcome 
by  his  feelings,  and  yearning  for  its  highest 
welfare,  "he  wept  over  it."  No  such  senti- 
ment troubled  Napoleon.  On  Sparrow  Hill 
he  ordered  his  artillery  to  be  planted  and 
the  city  to  be  bombarded.  This  being  the 
case,  is  it  any  wonder  that  the  grand,  costly 
Church  of  the  Redeemer  has  been  erected  and 
a  service  of  thanksgiving  is  held  every  year 
to  commemorate  the  defeat  of  the  Corsican  ? 
But  to  find  the  most  simple  yet  expressive 
memorial  to  Napoleon's  disastrous  Russian 
campaign,  one  must  travel  seven  hundred 
miles  westward  to  Vilna,  Poland,  where,  not 
far  from  the  city  where  the  French  army 
barely  escaped  annihilation,  is  a  monument 
which  reads  on  one  side,  "Napoleon  Buona- 
parte passed  this  way  in  1812,  with  400,000 
men,"  and  on  the  other,  "Napoleon  Buona- 
parte passed  this  way  in  1812,  with  9,000 
men." 

Saint  Petersburg 

As  the  fine  structures,  parks,  and  roads  of 
the  "model  settlements"  of  Shanghai  and 
Tientsin  afford  the  Chinese  a  peep  into 
Western  civilization,  so  Saint  Petersburg, 
Russia's  European  capital,  was  built  by 
order  of  Peter  the  Great  to  "open  a  window 
into  Europe."  However,  as  Emperor  Nicho- 


THROUGH  RUSSIA  247 

las  has  candidly  stated,  "Saint  Petersburg 
is  Russian,  but  it  is  not  Russia." 

Saint  Isaac's  Cathedral 

Saint  Isaac's  Cathedral,  for  instance,  is 
modeled  with  severe  simplicity  along  Euro- 
pean lines.  It  was  erected  to  the  honor  of 
Saint  Isaac  of  Dalmatia,  on  whose  festival, 
May  30,  1G72,  Peter  the  Great  was  born.  Its 
foundations,  like  those  of  Saint  Mark's  at 
Venice,  are  built  upon  thousands  of  piles,  at 
the  cost  of  nearly  one  million  rubles,  and 
constantly  need  repairing.  The  first  edifice 
was  made  of  wood,  which  afterward  was  re- 
placed with  stone.  Then  Catharine  II,  who 
erected  on  a  mammoth  rock  in  the  adjoining 
park  the  bronze  statue  of  Peter  the  Great 
riding  a  horse  in  a  fantastic  attitude,  began 
to  rebuild  it  in  marble,  which  Paul  I  slovenly 
finished  in  brick.  A  Russian  wit  who  epit- 
omized the  successive  building  operations 
in  these  words,  "This  church  is  the  symbol 
of  three  reigns,  granite,  pride,  and  destruc- 
tion," had  to  pay  the  penalty  for  his  temerity 
by  banishment  to  Siberia.  The  present  grand 
and  elegant  Cathedral  was  begun  in  1819 
and  completed  in  1858.  The  lavish  expen- 
diture of  choice  marble,  fine  granite,  and 
figured  bronze  in  its  construction,  and  the 
enormous  value  of  its  brilliant  ikonostas,  and 
the  sacred  gold  and  silver  vessels  of  its 
church  service,  are  appalling,  staggering  to 


248  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

the  imagination.  The  titanic  blocks  are 
built  into  the  form  of  a  Greek  cross,  but  the 
colonnnades  of  its  portico  are  an  imitation 
of  the  Pantheon  at  Rome.  Its  majestic 
solemnity  throws  upon  the  visitor  a  pall  of 
gloom  and  awe,  similar  to  that  experienced 
on  entering  the  Escorial.  That  gloomy 
monarch,  Philip  II,  with  the  wealth  of  Mex- 
ico and  Peru  at  his  feet,  sat  day  by  day  on  a 
neighboring  hillside  superintending  the  crea- 
tion of  that  one  compact,  colossal  mass  of 
stone,  called  the  Escorial,  combining  cathe- 
dral, monastery,  palace,  and  mausoleum. 
The  pyramids  of  Egypt  and  the  Escorial  of 
Spain  seem  to  belong  to  the  same  old  aristo- 
cratic family.  Both  stand  solemnly  and 
silently  alone  in  their  majestic  massiveness 
on  the  sands  of  the  desert.  The  somber, 
though  rich  mass  of  Saint  Isaac's  betrays 
the  same  racial  characteristics  of  depressing 
immensity,  as  though  a  distant  nouveau  riche 
relative  in  "the  Land  of  the  North." 


The  more  you  see  of  Russia,  the  more  deeply 
you  fall  in  love  with.  Uncle  Sam. — The  Lady  of  the 
Decoration. 

Departure 

WITH  a  sense  of  relief  akin  to  that  felt  in 
leaving  India  in  1907,  we  stepped  aboard  the 
scrupulously  clean  Finnish  steamer,  Von 
Doebeln,  moored  alongside  the  cholera- 
stricken  city  of  Saint  Petersburg.  Over  two 
years  previous  we  boarded  a  Messageries 
Maritimes  steamer  at  Bombay,  while  the 
plague  was  raging  in  northern  and  central 
India,  after  we  had  almost  trodden  upon  a 
dead  rat  in  an  alley  at  Delhi,  and  had  nearly 
touched  another  on  a  stone  wall  at  Bombay. 
White  streaks  of  chloride-of-lime  were  still 
marking  the  street  gutters  and  other  parts  of 
Russia's  capital,  when  the  spotless  Von 
Doebeln,  at  6  p.  M.  on  June  19,  loosened  from 
her  moorings  and,  dropping  down  the  Neva, 
steamed  into  the  Gulf  of  Finland,  on  its 
way  to  Helsingfors  and  Stockholm.  The 
next  morning  found  us  making  a  stop  of 
several  hours  at  Helsingfors,  the  capital  of 
Finland,  where  we  enjoyed  a  short  ramble 
ashore.  Then  the  steamer  plowed  its  way 

249 


250  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

westward,    arriving    at    Stockholm    at    one 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  the  following  day. 

The  Voyage 

On  this  passage  the  steamer's  course  was 
amid  a  multitude  of  islands  and  islets,  mak- 
ing the  voyage  indescribably  delightful,  with 
their  ever-varying  sylvan  scenery,  rivaling 
that  of  Lake  George,  New  York.  Only  for 
about  an  hour  does  the  steamer  cross  the 
open  sea,  and  that  at  midnight,  so  our  party 
were  unaware  whether  in  the  open  ocean 
there  were  heavy  seas  or  not. 

Meals  on  these  Finnish  steamers  are  served 
in  a  most  unique,  democratic  fashion.  A 
superabundant  variety  of  food,  such  as  cold 
salmon,  ham,  sardines,  caviare,  radishes, 
salads,  butter,  bread,  and  a  few  hot  dishes, 
as  fried  fish,  stewed  kidneys,  and  fried  eggs, 
with  plates  and  cutlery  are  piled  up  on  a 
long  table  in  the  center  of  the  dining  saloon. 
Each  guest  is  expected  to  take  from  this 
table  a  plate,  knife,  and  fork  and,  after 
choosing  whatever  he  wishes,  he  goes  to  his 
assigned  place  at  one  of  the  many  small 
tables  arranged  around  the  sides  of  the  room 
and  there  sits  down.  After  he  has  succeeded 
in  disposing  of  this  preliminary  repast,  a 
regular  course  meal  is  served.  For  instance, 
if  dinner,  the  waiters  bring  in  soup,  fish, 
roast,  salad,  and  dessert.  As  one  may  sur- 
mise, this  ample  preliminary  meal  of  ap- 


HOMEWARD  BOUND  251 

petizing  food  often  suffices.  It  was  pleasing 
to  notice  that  although  each  traveler  was  at 
liberty  to  go  to  the  long  table  and  help  him- 
self, there  was  no  evidence  of  pushing  and 
grabbing — so  different  from  many  a  hungry 
crowd  on  American  and  British  lines  of 
travel.  Here  everyone  was  considerate  of 
his  neighbor,  and  everything  was  done  de- 
cently and  in  order.  The  after-dinner  coffee, 
which  was  daintily  served  on  the  after-deck, 
was  pronounced  the  finest  ever  tasted,  being 
unexcelled  by  the  thick,  sweet  concoction  of 
Constantinople  and  Cairo,  or  the  amber, 
clear  beverage  of  Paris  and  Madrid. 

Quarantine 

On  account  of  the  cholera  at  Saint  Peters- 
burg the  Swedish  health  authorities  detained 
all  the  passengers  until  each  had  been  pro- 
vided with  a  ticket  and  a  sheet  of  paper  as 
large  as  foolscap,  printed  in  three  languages, 
informing  him  that  for  four  consecutive  days 
he  must  appear  before  the  local  health  au- 
thorities personally,  or  be  subjected  to  a 
heavy  fine.  Even  when  visiting  Upsala,  be- 
fore the  expiration  of  the  time-limit,  we  had 
to  waste  nearly  half  a  day  in  calling  upon  a 
medical  officer.  One  lawless  American  young 
lady  disregarded  this  daily  visit  and  had  to 
pay  a  considerable  fine,  to  her  surprise  and 
disgust.  Like  pill-taking,  quarantine  though 
necessary,  is  generally  unpalatable. 


252  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

Russian  Detectives 

Friday,  the  last  day  of  our  stay  in  that 
charming  capital  of  Sweden,  the  city  was 
being  gaily  decorated  in  honor  of  the  ex- 
pected visit  of  Tsar  Nicholas  II  on  the  mor- 
row, and  Russian  detectives  were  very  solici- 
tous lest  any  outrage  should  be  perpetrated 
on  the  sacred  person  of  the  Autocrat  of  all 
the  Russias.  We  chanced  to  be  in  the  office 
of  the  "Northern  Travel  Bureau,"  engaging 
our  passage  across  the  Atlantic,  when  the 
ticket  agent  asked  us  whether  we  had 
noticed  the  man  who  had  just  hurriedly 
slammed  the  front  door  on  his  way  to  the 
street.  He  informed  us  that  he  was  a  Rus- 
sian detective  on  the  track  of  two  Russians, 
who  had  purchased  tickets  in  this  office  a 
few  minutes  earlier.  This  detective  had 
asked  the  agent  what  kind  of  tickets  they 
had  bought,  and  seemed  satisfied  to  find  noth- 
ing suspicious  in  the  transaction.  The  inci- 
dent serves  to  indicate  the  excessive  surveil- 
lance of  Russian  detectives. 

Stay  in  Sweden 

In  spite  of  the  quarantine  fetters,  shack- 
ling our  movements  day  by  day,  our  sojourn 
in  Stockholm  was  delightful,  including  an 
excursion  to  Upsala  and  repeated  visits  to 
the  open-air  museum  at  Skansen,  with  its 
many  attractions.  Skansen  has  the  reputa- 
tion of  being  the  pioneer  open-air  museum  of 


RUSSIAN  CHAPEL  AT  WIKSBADKX 


HOMEWARD  BOUND  253 

the  world.  Here  could  be  studied  the  historic 
progress  of  the  Swedes  from  their  earliest 
past  up  to  modern  times.  Relics  of  bygone 
days,  herds  of  reindeer  and  other  animals, 
and  gaudy  costumes  of  peasants  from  dis- 
tant districts  attracted  crowds.  The  long 
summer  twilight  thronged  the  streets  and 
parks  with  citizens  and  guests  from  other 
lands.  Dinner  was  served  very  early,  at  half- 
past  five  in  the  afternoon,  so  that  all  might 
take  advantage  of  the  delicious  coolness  of 
the  broad  daylight  evenings  and  return  be- 
fore dark  for  a  light  nine-o'clock  supper. 

A  Russian  Memento 

A  beautiful  Russian  chapel  is  situated  a 
little  below  the  summit  of  the  Neroberg  in 
the  environs  of  Wiesbaden.  It  was  erected 
as  a  mausoleum  for  the  Duchess  Elizabeth 
Michailowna,  a  Russian  princess,  and  is  built 
in  the  form  of  a  Greek  cross,  and  its  interior 
is  lavishly  decorated  with  marble  and  gilt. 
Its  roof  is  surmounted  by  five  golden  domes, 
ornamented  by  double  Greek  crosses.  It  is 
a  perfect  gem  in  itself,  but  when  seen  glisten- 
ing in  the  bright  sunshine  through  the  long 
funnel-opening  cut  in  the  dense,  green  foliage 
of  the  forest,  its  resplendent  beauty  is  only 
surpassed  by  the  Wartburg  Castle  at  Eise- 
nach, when  viewed  through  the  arboreal  tele- 
scope from  Hohe  Sonne,  some  three  miles 
awav. 


254  STRANGE  SIBERIA 

Home  Again 

After  bidding  farewell  to  Russia,  our  route 
took  us  by  way  of  Finland,  Sweden,  Den- 
mark, Germany,  Belgium,  France,  and  Eng- 
land, where  we  tarried  at  various  alluring 
places  a  day,  or  a  week  or  so,  as  the  fancy 
took  us.  Then  we  left  England  in  the  swift 
steamship  Lusitania  for  New  York.  It  was 
really  provoking,  notwithstanding  the  lux- 
uriousness  of  the  steamer's  equipment,  to 
find  the  length  of  our  voyage  trimmed  off  so 
short  at  both  ends.  A  little  more  than  four 
days  after  we  had  lost  sight  of  land  in  Eu- 
rope we  came  in  sight  of  the  American  side 
of  the  Atlantic. 

Robinson  Crusoe 

Robinson  Crusoe's  thrilling  narrative  has 
captivated  many  a  youth,  who  in  his  later 
life  may  have  forgotten  that  this  hero's  last 
exciting  journey  was  from  China  through 
Siberia  and  Russia  to  his  old  home  in  Eng- 
land. He  narrates  how  he  left  Russia  by 
boat  at  Archangel,  as  we  did  at  Saint  Peters- 
burg. A  certain  devout  elderly  acquaintance 
of  ours,  whose  pastor's  preaching  had  been 
adversely  criticized,  taking  his  part  replied, 
"But  I  always  like  his  closing  remarks."  So 
after  reading  to  the  finish  Robinson  Crusoe's 
long  life  of  adventure  and  travel,  we  heartily 
indorse  his  closing  remarks:  "And  here  [in 


HOMEWARD  BOUND  255 

England],  resolving  to  harass  myself  no 
more,  I  am  preparing  for  a  longer  journey 
than  all  these,  haying  lived  seventy-five 
years,  a  life  of  infinite  variety,  and  learned 
sufficiently  to  know  the  value  of  retirement, 
and  the  blessing  of  ending  our  days  in 
peace." 


INDEX 


Adirondacks,  87 
Afghanistan,  167 
Aksakoff,  26 
Alaric,  16 
Albazin,  91 
Alexander  I.  158,  202 
Alexander,  II,  166,  167 
Alexander  III,  111,  126,  148 
Alexander  the  Great,  14 
Alexandra  vo,  11 
Alexandrovskaya,  110 
Alexius,  Emperor,  244 
Amur  River,  91,  92,  111 
Angara  River,  96,  98,  99,  111, 

127,  128 
Astor  House,  41 
Atkinson,  225,  226 
Atkinson,  Commander,  171 


B 

Baedeker  10,  21,  88,  109 

Bagdanon,  Rev.,  58 

Baikal,  Lake.  60,  94,  111,  128 

Baku,  217 

Bank,  Russo-Chinese,  19,  56, 

90,  91,  93,  212 
Barnaul,  211,  212,  219 
Basaicha,  179 
Bates,  Lindon,  Jr.,  93 
Beaulieu,  LeRoy,  19 
Beecher,  Henry  Ward,  77 
Beveridge,    Hon.   A.  J.,   134, 

192 

Bezpopovsty,  159 
Bible,  honor  to,  137-139 
Biisk,  212 

Black  Hundred,  the,  188 
Blagoveshchenk,  92 
Bobrinski  Count,  160,  161 
Bolsche  Kaya,  111 
Boswell,  34 
Boxers,  22 

Bradshaw's  Guidebook,  100 
Brass  Sleigh,  17 
Breshkovsky,  Catherine,  187 
•'Bubble  and  Squeak,"  65 


Bubbling  Well  Road,  15 
Buckley,  J.  M.,  156 
Butter,  Siberian,  218-221 

C 

Cairo,  15,  104,  204 

Camel,  16,  67 

Canadian    Pacific    Steamship 

Company,  65 
Caravan  Route,  23,  93 
Cathedral  Service,  207 
Catherine  II,  187,  204,  247 
Caucasus,  23 
Cemetery,  Russian,  41 
Champs  Elysees,  15 
Changli,  China,  30,  31 
Chaucer.  232 
Chelyabinsk,  222 
China,  18^  77,  111 
Chinese  Eastern  Railway,  57 
Chinkiang,  China,  33 
Chinovnik,  76-82 
Chin  Shih  Wang,  Emperor,  34 
Chita,  89-91 
Church,  Orthodox,  78,  79,  153, 

161,  164 
Cimmeria,  231 
Clay  Figures,  14 
Codex  Sinai ticus,  12 
Constantinople,  15,  59 
Convent  of  Saint  Catherine,  13 
Cortez,  145 

Courtesy  of  Officials,  12 
Cowboys,  14 

Cranston,  Bishop  Earl,  166 
Crusoe,  Robinson,  255 
Customs  Examination,  87-89 


Damskaya,  90 
Danube,  74 
Darius,  39 
Dekabrists,  90 
Demiuoff,  212,  225,  226 
Denby,  Hon.  Charles,  165 
Dentists,  Siberian,  200 


256 


INDEX 


257 


Detectives,  Russian,  252 
De  Windt,  155 
De  Witte,  62 
Dillon,  Dr.,  189 
Dining  Car,  66 
Dnieper,  River,  59,  171 
Dogs,  Siberian,  100 
Dolgorouki,  Prince,  75 
Dostoyevky,  25,  216 
Doukhorborsts,  159,  163,  164 
Dresden,  28 


Edelweiss,  73,  85 
Education,  125,  126 
Eggs,  Russian,  221 
Ekaterinburg,  204,  222 
Emerson,  R.  W.,  62 
Escorial,  Spain,  248 
Esperanto,  28 
Evening    Post,    the,    of    New 

York,  104,  164 
Exiles,  151,  152 
Express  Trains,  64 


Finland,  118 

Finnish  Steamers,  1 1 ,  250 
Fiske,  John,  74 
French  Revolution,  244 
Freshfield,  D.  W.,  72 
Friendship    of    Russians    and 
Americans,  133-137 


G 

Galoches,  Russian,  17 

Ganz,  Hugo,  157 

Garibaldi,  57 

Garroters,  100 

Geil.  William  Edgar,  37 

Genghis  Khan,  16,  73-75.  203, 

235 

Genius  of  a  People,  9 
Gibbon,  76 
Gilmour,  James,  94 
Gobi,  Desert  of,  22,  93 
Goethe,  40 

Golden  Horde,  the,  74,  82 
Granville,  A.  B.,  225,  226 
Great  Wall  of  China,  the,  34, 

165 

Green,  Andrew  H,.  102 
Greener,  W.  O.  (Wirt  Gerrare), 

40,  57,  72,  100,  168,  177 


Harbin,  19,  22,  40,  49,  51-61, 

87 

Harper's  Weekly,  187 
"Hats  Off,"  243 
Hawaii,  171 
Helsingfors,  119,  249 
Hermitage,   Saint  Petersburg, 

13,  231 

Herodotus,  231 
Hildebrand,  80 
Himalayas,  74 
Hirschman,  Baron,  57 
Holidays,  Russian,  114-116 
Homer,  231 

Hotel  Metropole,  104-108 
Hotel  Rates,  54,  107 
Humboldt,  211 
Hunghutze,  49 
Huns,  16 


Icon,  66,  104,  207,  235,  243 
Ignatieff,  General,  142 
Immigration,  150,  151,  213 
India,  Railways  in,  64 
Irish  Jaunting  Car,  15 
Irkutsk,  9,  12,  22,  100-139 
Irtysh.  97,  146,  214,  216,  217 
Ito,  Prince,  49 

Ivan  the  Terrible.  81,  152,  235, 
236 


Japanese,  16 

Jasenskai,    Colonel    Rudolph, 

172 

Jermak.  145-147 
Jewell,  Marshall,  16,  119 
Jews  in  Russia,  17,  132,  133, 

140-144 

Johnson,  Samuel,  34,  239 
Joubert,  Carl,  158 
Journey,  length  of,  20 

K 

Kalgan,  China,  22,  73,  93,  165 
Kang-Hsi,  Emperor,  92 
Kant,  181 
Karnak,  84 
Kass  River,  97 
Kazan,  235 
"Keep-a-tok,"  68,  213 
Kennan,  George,  189,  198 
Kertch,  231 
Ket  River,  97 


258 


STRANGE  SIBERIA 


Kharborovak,  100 
Khilkoff,  Prince,  63 
Khlyats,  159 
Kiachta,  93 
Kiev,  59,  76 
King-an-Mountains,  72 
Kodaks,  56,  120 
Koenigsberg,  22,  181 
Kokovsto,  M.,  49 
Korea,  48,  111 
Korff,  Count,  160,  161 
Kourbski,  Prince,  153 
Kourgan,  218,  219 
Krasnoyarsk,  176,  178 
Krause,   Alexis.  51,   147,    167, 

170 

Kuan-Cheng' tze,  48,  51 
Kumiss  Sanitarium,  227 
Kunst  and  Albera,  91  ' 

Kuropatkin,  58,  97 
Kusmitsch,  Theodore,  202 
Kyoto,  Japan,  104 


Lady  of  the  Decoration,  the, 

183,  249 

Lakehurst,  New_Jersey,  16 
Language,  Russian,  25-29 
Latimer,  R.  S.,  158,  161,  162 
Leather,  Russian,  86,  119 
Legend  of  Mcng  Chiang  Nil, 

35,  36 

Lehigh  University,  22 
Lena  River,  114< 
Li  Kamon  no  Kimi,  25 
Library,  Imperial,  13 
Lincoln,  Abraham,  80,  86,  167 
Literature,  Russian,  25,  26 
Literature,  Yellow,  200 
Lhi  Fang,  Rev.,  21 
Longfellow,  140,  180 
Lotus  Eaters,  85 
Lusitania,  Steamship,  254 
Lutheran  Church,  21,  108-110, 

205,  206 

M 

Mahan,  Captain  A.  T.,  30 
Makaroff,  Admiral,  148 
Makoushin,  137,  185,  191 
Manchuria,  16,  17,  19,  22,  39, 

87,  147,  171 
Mangon.  James  G.,  83 
Marketplace,  Tomsk,  104 
Marriage  Hindrances,  132,  133 
Mary,  Queen,  80 
Mascot,  12 


Matsushima  Bay,  11 

Mayers,  Mr.,  31 

McCormick,  38,  40,  71,  148 

Meng  Chiang  Nu,  35 

Mennqnites,  159 

Michailowna,  Princess,  253 

Migration,  53 

Milton,  123 

Minerals,  224 

Minusinsk,  179 

Missovaia,  94 

Mohammedan,  197,  203,  236 

Molokans,  159,  162 

Monastery,  Saint  Innocent, 
126-130 

Mongol,  16,  76,  81,  93 

Monument  of  Tears,  18,  223 

Morrison,  Robert,  94 

Moscow,  16,  18,  19,  76,  135, 
142,  241,  242,  245 

Motor  Car.  16 

Mukden.  22,  38,  48 

Museum,  Dresden,  28;  Ir- 
kutsk, 112-114;  Metropoli- 
tan, 14;  National,  14;  Saint 
Petersburg,  Alexander  III., 
148;  Rumyanzef,  244; 
Tomsk,  28 

Music,  Church,  122-124,  192 

N 

Nankow  Pass,  22 

Napoleon,  75,  148,  149,  245. 
246 

Negro,  American,  117 

Nekrasov,  90 

Nevelskoi,  Admiral,  24 

New  England,  77 

New  York,  12,  14,  102,  104 

New  York  Sun,  the,  172 

New  York  Times,  the,  172 

Nicholas  I,  24 

Nicholas  II,  62.  158 

Nijni-Novgorod,  103,  138,  238. 
239,  241 

Nikopol,  Vase  of,  12,  13,  231 

Noble,  E.,  217 

Nord-Express,  11 

Norman,  Henry,  171 

Northwestern  Christian  Advo- 
cate, 70 

Novgorod,  Old,  59 


Obi  River,  97,  214 
Omsk,  213.  217,  218,  219 
Outlook,  the,  104,  185.  201 


INDEX 


259 


Painters,  Russian,  152 
Palace,  Imperial,  Mukden,  43 
Pale  of  Settlement,  140 
Pallas,  P.  S.,  222 
Pantheon,  Rome,  57,  248 
Park,  City,  Tomsk,  198 
Parsons,  William  Barclay,  38 
Partition  of  Poland,  140 
Pashkoff,    Colonel,    159,    160, 

161 

Passports,  12 
Patent  Medicine,  69 
Peking,  China,  20,  22 
"Pepper-pot,"  65 
Perovskaya,  Sophie,  187 
Perry,  Commodore,  25,  213 
Peter  the  Great,  28,   78,  91, 

157,  212,  247 
Petropaulovsk,  217 
Philip  II,  82,  161.  248 
Philippines,  140 
Pigeons  in  Russia,  154 
Pobiedonostzeff,  80,  81,   160, 

161 

Pogroms,  142 
Polo,  Marco,  26 
Popovsty,  159 
Porcelain,  Chinese,  44 
Port  Arthur,   16,  40-43,   148, 

172 

Postroad,  Siberian,  176 
Prison,  Siberian,  110,  197 
Pristan,  Harbin,  40,  58-60 
Proctor,  Edna  D.,  241 
Pskoff.  81 
Putnam-Weale,  B.  L.,  40,  60, 

169 
Pyramids,  16,  34 


Q 

Quarantine,  251 
Quebec,  18 

R 

Radstock,  Lord,  160 
Ragsdale,  Consul,  13 
Rambaud.  59,  157,  228 
Raskolniks,  164-166 
Reclus,  84 
Reid,  Arnot,  136 
Riverside  Drive,  15 
River  Travel,  233 
Robert  of  Paris,  Count,  244 
Roberts,  J.  H.,  22,  27,  166 


Ronaldshay,  Lord,  214 
Roosevelt,   Colonel  Theodore, 

114,  125,  149,  208 
Rosenberg,  Leon,  143 
Rotten  Row,  15 
Ryepin,  152 


S 


Saint  Isaac's  Cathedral,  247, 

248 

Saint  Lawrence  River,  11 
Saint  Petersburg,   11,   12,   13. 

16,  17,  18,  24,  90,  142,  148, 

165,  172,  246,  247 
Saint  Sophia  Cathedrals,  59 
Samara,  65,  228,  231,  232 
Samarkand,  217 
Sarai.  232 
Saratoff,  232 
Scarfoglio,  Antonio,  174 
Schlesmger,  M.  L.,  188 
Scotland,  19 

Scythians,  14,  39,  231.  232 
Selenga  River,  92 
Selenginsk,  93 
Settlement  Work,  245 
Shanghai,  15 

Signposts  on  Railways,  39 
Simons,  Dr.  G.  A.,  162 
Sinai,  Mount,  13 
Skansen    Open- Air    Museum, 

252 

Skobeleff,  General,  147 
Sla-to-ust,  227 
Smith,  Dr.  J.  Purvis,  90 
Sparrow  Hill,  245 
Stallybrass,  William,  93 
Steiner,  Edward  A..  173 
Stockholm,  11,  249.  250,  252 
Story,  Robert,  62 
Stundists,  159 
Sungari  River,  59 
Swan,  Edward,  93 
Swayne,  Major,  214 
Sytchewa.  Nassili,  131 


Taiga,  20,  180-182 

Tamerlane,  74 

Tammany,  New  York,  20,  189 

Tartars,  76,  82 

Tashkent,  217 

Taylor,  J.  R.,  237 

T6  (Virtue)  Pastor,  36 

Tekkes,  147 

Terpigoreff,  26 


260 


STRANGE  SIBERIA 


Thousand  Islands,  11 

Timbuctoo,  103 

Time  for  Travel,  10 

Timur,  75 

Ting,  General,  32 

Tischendorf,  13 

Tissot,  Victor,  9 

Todleben,  General,  145 

Togo,  Admiral,  42 

Tokyo,  15,  84 

Tolstoy,  Count  Dmitry,  80 

Tolstoy,  Count  Leo,  81,   162, 

168.  203,  222,  237 
Tomsk.  12,  20,  21.  28,  100,  103, 

174-210 

Torrey,  William  A.,  16 
Trans-Siberian    Railway,    10, 

17,  18,  23,  165,  188,  222 
Treaty  of  Paris,  52 
Tretyakov  Ga  lery,  152 
Troitsa  Monastery,  128 
Trossachs,  10 
Trubetskoy,  Lady,  90 
Turley,  Mr.,  59 
Turner,  S.,  190 
203  Metre  Hill.  41 


U 

Uda  River,  92 

Uganda.  141 

Ular,  Alexander,  180 

United  States  Department  of 

Agriculture,  31 

University  of  Tomsk,  189-191 
Unter  den  Linden,  15 
Urals,  18,  19,  222-227 
Urga,  93 


Villari,  63 

Vitim  Gold  Mines,  111 

Vladikaukas,  23,  217 

Vladimir,  69 

Vladivostok,  18,  20,  23,  24,  57. 

91,  111.  197 
Vodka,  69,  179,  210 
Volga,  171,  239,  240 
Von  Plevne,  180 
Von  Schierbrand,  26,  40,  69, 

70,  162,  186 


W 

Waliszewski,  28 
Wallace,  Sir  Donald  Macken- 
zie, 82 

Wall  Street,  New  York,  57 
Warsaw,  11 

Washburn,  George,  145 
Washington,  Booker  T.,  106 
Washington,  George,  80 
Waterways,  Siberian,  96,  97 
Wedding,  133,  191-194 
Wenyon,  Dr.  Charles,  114,  180 
White  Birch,  84 
Whittier,  118 
Wiesbaden,  229,  253 
Wilkinson,  Samuel,  143 
Wilkinson,  Sir  Gardner,  155 
Wingate,  Major-General,  15 
Winnipeg,  163 
Wolkhonsky,  Princess,  90 
Women  with  Careers,  186 
Wood,  J.  N.  Price,  217 
Wright,  Elizabeth  W.,  43-48 


Van  Dyke,  Henry,  9 
Van  Norden,  102 
Vay  de  Vaya,  Count,  49 
Verchne-Udinsk,  92 
Veregin,  Peter,  163 
Vereguine,  Father,  163,  164 
Vereshchagin,  147-150 
Victor,  Emmanuel,  57 


Yakutsk,  114 
Yankee  Notion,  17 
Yaroshenko,  152,  154 
Yenesei    River,    97,    178-180, 
214 


Zabel,  Eugen,  149,  156 


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